Gotland could eventially see wind powered cement production

Cementa (HeidelbergCement group) and utility group Vattenfall are proposing a pilot cement plant on the Swedish island of Gotland to be run on wind power instead of fossil fuels.

Vattenfall and Cementa will conduct an in-depth study this year into how the pilot plant can be built.  Simulations indicate that the electrification of Cementa's Gotland factory would work well together with the planned expansion of wind energy on the island.

The pilot plant project came as a result of Vattenfall and Cementa concluding the first part of the CemZero study that has been submitted to the Swedish Energy Agency that co-financed the study. The study concluded that electrification of the heating in the cement-making process is technically feasible and a certain amount of clinker can be produced entirely on plasma technology, but this has to be verified through industrial-scale testing.

"It is very positive that we can proceed with the work of electrifying the cement industry, it is one of the most important examples of new collaborations for technology development which can make a substantial contribution to the efforts to create a fossil-free future," said Vattenfall chief executive Magnus Hall.

"Achieving radical emissions reductions requires advances in technology. CemZero opens up an interesting path which we are looking forward to taking further," said Cementa's CEO Magnus Ohlsson.