Construction of Catch4climate's Mergelstetten CCUS project begins

The Catch4climate project, which involves various international producers together with Buzzi Unicem has begun. Work started in February 2023 on the construction of a research and development plant for the capture of CO₂ in Mergelstetten, Germany, at the Schwenk Zement cement plant.

The plant, of which construction and operation will involve over EUR120m, will use the pure-oxyfuel process for the capture of CO₂ for the first time. For this purpose, a special production line will be built with a production capacity of 450tpd. 

Many sectors, such as the production of fertilisers, fuel for long-haul flights or plastic medical devices, are viewing the project with interest. So far the carbon has been extracted almost exclusively from fossil fuels, while in the future Catch4climate intend to use the captured CO₂ for produce the so-called 'reFuels', ie synthetic fuels with a lower climate impact, such as kerosene for air traffic. The commissioning of the CO₂ capture facility is scheduled for mid-2024.