Clean Energy Construction
Fluor Awarded $500M Cement Plant CCS Project Design Contract
Heidelberg Materials cement production facility in Geseke, Germany that Fluor has a new contract for FEED work to install a carbon capture process.
Rendering courtesy Fluor.
Texas-based Fluor Corp. has won a front-end engineering and design contract from construction materials giant Heidelberg Materials for a proposed $500-million upgrade of an existing cement plant in Germany that will add carbon capture and sequestration technology.
Heidelberg says it aims to decarbonize the production facility in Geseke, Germany, to enable it to collect as much as 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually to process at a purification and liquefaction plant for transport and storage. The project is part of the firm’s GeZero project, which the Heidelberg, Germany-based global manufacturer claims will be a model for producing carbon-captured cement and clinker that is net-zero.
Fluor did not disclose the value of its FEED contract, or whether it also is line to be project contractor.
Included in the project cost is about $200 million Heidelberg received from the EU Innovation Fund, which helps subsidize innovative low-carbon technologies. Construction is expected to start in 2026, with commissioning planned for three years later.
“GeZero is a flagship project for the decarbonization strategy of Heidelberg Materials and Fluor is excited to assist with this pioneering technology,” said Mike Alexander, group president of the contractor's Energy Solutions unit.
Fluor has steadily increased its footprint in the CCS technology area, announcing earlier this year that Chevron New Energies signed a license agreement to use its proprietary Econamine FG PlusSM process to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at a cogeneration plant in California owned by the energy giant. It involves use of a solvent to capture CO2 from post-combustion sources that emit more than 10,000 tonnes daily.
According to Heidelberg, the Geseke plant near the city of Munster will use injected oxygen to produce a higher CO2 concentration in its exhaust gas, enabling more efficient carbon capture.
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CO2 transport to the plant by rail is part of project planning "until the necessary pipeline infrastructure is available,” said Heidelberg Materials CEO Christian Knell in a statement. “In addition, a local CO2 storage hub is to be created as interim storage."
Knell said power to operate the plant will be "exclusively" renewable, noting a new photovoltaic solar system nearby "will help to meet the needs.”
Fluor ranks at No. 8 on ENR’s 2024 Top 400 Contractor list with $9.4 billion in revenue.
