Linde and Heidelberg Materials hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for their large-scale carbon dioxide capture and liquefaction facility in Lengfurt, Germany, on Thursday. Andreas X. Müller, Managing Director Linde Gas Germany, Linde GmbH and Christian Knell, Spokesman of the Management Board, Heidelberg Materials Deutschland welcomed to this milestone on the construction site at the Lengfurt cement plant.

Christian Knell said: “The special thing about our project is that the captured CO₂ from cement clinker production is processed in such a way that it can be reused as carbon dioxide in the food and beverage industry. With the amine scrubbing technology used here in Lengfurt, we are demonstrating the capture and treatment of CO₂ on an industrial scale in the cement industry in Germany for the first time. This is a step towards the decarbonization of our industry. We are determined to reduce the carbon footprint of our sites and products as much as possible and are, therefore, delighted to now be realizing a project in Germany with our joint venture.”

“Thanks to our expertise along the CO₂ value chain, we support our customers across hard-to-abate sectors in their decarbonization efforts,” said Andreas X Mueller, Managing Director of Linde Gas Germany. “Our collaboration with Heidelberg Materials and the construction of this plant in Lengfurt is a significant milestone in reducing emissions in the cement industry. Additionally, this plant will further expand the secure and high-quality CO₂ for our customers.”

Under the name ‘Capture-to-Use’ (Cap2U), Heidelberg Materials and Linde have established a joint venture to build and operate a carbon dioxide capture and liquefaction plant, which is expected to go into operation in 2025. The plant will enable the captured CO₂ from cement production to be utilized as a valuable raw material for industrial applications. The purified gas can be used in both the chemical and food and beverage industries. The planned volume of purified and liquefied CO₂ is around 70,000 tons per year.

The plant is being planned and built by Linde Engineering. Based on an amine scrubber specially developed for flue gases, the carbon dioxide will be separated directly from part of the cement clinker kiln’s flue gas stream. Plants for purification and liquefaction, tanks for intermediate storage of the product and truck loading facilities are also part of the project scope.

In addition to the joint venture’s investments, around 15 million euros in funding from the ‘Decarbonization in Industry’ funding program on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) will be provided for the implementation of the project on the site of the cement plant in Lengfurt.