As part of the decarbonisation strategy of the top-50 industrial sites with the highest CO2 emissions, Vicat’s Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant is expected to be a carbon capture and storage (CCS) pilot site for France.

“The idea is to go faster. We had a post-2030 project. We are moving it forward and aiming for implementation before 2030. We are even talking about 2027,” explains Guy Sidos, the CEO of Vicat. “We give ourselves the possibility of going to capture 1Mta of CO2, knowing that the Montalieu cement plant emits a little less than 800,000[t],” he adds. Capture and storage of CO2 would make it possible to reduce CO2/t of cement produced at the site from 663kg today to less than 40kg. Without capture, it would be less than 400kg by 2030, according to Mr Sidos.

It is expected that discussions on the nature of public aid in terms of investment and/or operating subsidies, will begin after the summer and once when state support has been approved.

In addition to CO2 capture, the logistics of the project at Montalieu is key. There are several options: transporting it by barges via the Rhône, or by train or even via pipeline to the port of Fos-sur-Mer. There is also the issue of gas compression for transport.