Holcim has received a new environmental permit for the company’s GO4ZERO kiln project at its Obourg plant, near Mons, Belgium, according to news agency Belga.

The new kiln will operate with a new oxy-fuel kiln to help achieve the plant’s net-zero target. Existing facilities will also be modernised in the project. The new pyroprocessing line will also use alternative raw materials to replace limestone, reduce water consumption and meet half of its power with renewable resources. Clinker manufacture will see its carbon footprint reduced by 30 per cent.

"Before the end of the decade, all of the CO2 from clinker production at the Obourg site will be captured for geological sequestration in the North Sea", explains the company. “The complete transformation of this industrial tool also requires the intervention of European funds mobilised to accelerate the ecological transition of carbon-intensive industries while maintaining their competitive position", specify the project leaders, adding that this financial intervention should be decided “during the summer of 2023".

As part of the EUR350-400m investment, EUR50m have been released for the quarry at Doornik and the creation of a new rail connection and a new 2000tph loading for six daily return trains between the plant and the quarry. The deposit in Doornik will supply the cement plant for approximately 70 years.

Construction at Obourg is expected to start in the last quarter of this year. The first phase of the project runs from 2022 until 2025.