The European Innovation Fund (EU Environment and Climate) has agreed funding for several cement and lime sector projects, with Holcim and Lhoist among the companies that will receive funding.

Holcim Germany has received funding approval from the European Union for the Carbon2Business project in Lägerdorf in Schleswig-Holstein from the EU Innovation Fund. The funding is aimed at the construction of a new kiln line at Lägerdorf plant. With the use of oxyfuel technology, the first climate-neutral cement plant is to be built here. "With this tailwind, we can now drive the project forward even more effectively and make our contribution to decarbonisation," comments CEO Thorsten Hahn.

Meanwhile, Lhoist’s CalCC project to reduce CO2 emissions at its Réty lime plant in France has been selected by the European Innovation Fund for funding. Together with Air Liquide, Lhoist is working to reduce the CO2 emissions at the Réty plant by more than 600,000tpa, starting in 2028. As a leader in the lime industry, Lhoist is very proud that for the first time, a lime plant will capture its CO2 emissions and store them in safe conditions.

Other projects for the cement industry being reviewed for funding include Lafarge Cement Poland (Holcim) Go4Ecoplanet at Kujawy Cement and HeidelbergCement's ANRAV CCUS project at Devnya Cement, Bulgaria.