CCS facility cleared at Padeswood cement works
Heidelberg Materials has secured consent to build a £400m carbon capture storage plant at its North Wales base.
The company said that the decision by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales means that it is a step closer to meeting its goal of creating the UK’s first net zero cement works.
Plans to make the Padeswood location, then still badged as a Hanson operation, net zero were first floated by the German-headquartered global materials giant in October 2022 with a series of public engagement events.
Heidelberg’s facility aims to capture and store up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year from the existing cement works, which will be transported via the HyNet North West pipeline for secure storage under the Liverpool Bay seabed.
A scoping request was submitted to and approved by Flintshire Council last spring regarding a spur to the Padeswood site from the pipeline. WSP advised.
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Heidelberg said the project is expected to create around 50 new full-time jobs, and up to 500 additional jobs during construction.
Chief executive Simon Willis said: “This is fantastic news and a huge step forward for our Padeswood carbon capture and storage project.
“Cement is essential to the UK’s transition to net zero. It is fundamental to the development of everything from new offshore wind farms, to nuclear power stations, to low carbon infrastructure, and the thousands of green jobs that these projects will create.”
Cement production is a particularly carbon-intensive process, with significant emissions arising from the chemical processes involved in manufacture, processes for which nobody has yet found realistic, greener alternatives.
Thus, capturing these emissions is the only path open at present should the UK want to make cement production net-zero, Heidelberg said – although the practicalities of large-scale CCS are still viewed with scepticism by some.
The firm said that once operational, the Padeswood facility will capture almost all of the CO₂ produced during cement manufacture, going on to say that production of net zero cement could start as early as 2029.
RSK Environment supported Heidelberg on the project, with consent secured several months ahead of scheduler.
Principal environmental consultant Harry Cross said: “We are proud to have achieved planning permission for this important and rewarding project that demonstrates the UK leading the way on deploying CCS in the cement industry.
“Our work here saw RSK Environment acting as environment, consents and permitting lead, including coordinating the environmental impact assessment and project managing the development of national significance application.
“We were also able to draw on the skills and experience of 12 additional RSK Group businesses, including Joanna Berlyn from Stephenson Halliday as planning lead and Copper Consultancy as communications lead for the programme of community engagement and consultation.”
