ELECTRA research project to build Skövde pilot plant in 2026

Swedish companies and universities are at the forefront of European efforts to electrify energy-intensive industries. Through their participation in the EU-funded ELECTRA research project, Swedish stakeholders are now working to drastically reduce CO₂ emissions from the cement, lime, and pulp industries.

The ELECTRA project, co-funded by the EU's Horizon Europe programme, is exploring new technologies to replace traditional combustion processes with electricity-based solutions in the long term. This could reduce fuel-related CO₂ emissions by more than 90 per cent, which in turn would significantly improve the efficiency of CCS technology by reducing the amount of CO₂ that needs to be captured and stored. Fuel-related emissions account for about a third of total emissions from cement and lime production.

The Swedish participants, Heidelberg Materials, ABB, Stora Enso, Chalmers University of Technology, Umeå University and Kanthal AB, are playing a key role in developing and testing these new technologies.

“We have a good chance of transforming these industries through electrification in the long term, and thus reducing their climate impact, mainly because CCS technology can become more efficient through electrification. In this way, the research is an excellent complement to what could be a developed CCS technology in the longer term, and we look forward to contributing our expertise to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable industry," says Arvid Stjernberg, head of development and application northern Europe at Heidelberg Materials.

Heidelberg Materials is leading the experimental work on the use of an electrically powered plasma kiln, instead of traditional fuels, in cement production to achieve the high temperatures (1450°C) required.

Bodil Wilhelmsson, project manager at Heidelberg Materials, explains: “Based on our previous R&D experience, we will continue to evaluate the plasma-driven rotary kiln concept. First, we will evaluate the results from our 300kWel pilot kiln at Slite. Based on these results, we will then build a 1MWel kiln in Skövde in 2026. These experiments and kilns are very important for the whole ELECTRA project and will involve all partners in ELECTRA in one way or another.

A very important advantage of electrifying cement production is that the flue gas is almost pure CO₂ gas. This means that the carbon capture step in the CCS chain can be simplified, resulting in:
• much lower energy consumption
• lower CO₂ emissions
• lower investment costs for the entire production chain, including geological storage of CO₂, as the total amount of CO₂ is also reduced.

The Swedish participants are part of a larger consortium of 17 partners from eight countries that aims to accelerate the electrification of the cement, lime and pulp industries by up to five years. The project, which will run until 2027, is an important step towards meeting the EU's climate targets and reducing dependence on fossil fuels in these sectors.