Holcim’s new GO4ZERO plant which is based in Germany, specifically in Obourg, has been approved and it now has aims of producing two million tonnes of net-zero cement every year by 2029.

This innovative project will have an investment of more than EUR 500 million and it’s first priority is to put its abilities to work and advance Europe’s decarbonisation systems. This project broke ground in front of Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium and Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action.

The GO4ZERO project operates through transforming and improving the cement manufacturing process at every stage of creation. It does this though accelerating decarbonised energy use, meaning that over 95% of its energy will be sourced from alternative fuels. Alongside this, over 30% of the raw mix it works with, will be derived from partly decarbonised alternative raw materials, which are mostly made up of waste from other industries, which will ultimately advance circularity.

Through this work, the main aim of this plant will be for it cut Co2 emissions by 30%, with the hope of reaching this point by 2027. Furthermore, this project will also be responsible for operating Europe’s largest installation of floating solar panels.

As well as this excellent news around breaking ground with this project, Holcim has recently announced that they will be partnering with Air Liquide over this project. This partnership will be supported by EUR 230 million from the Innovation Fund. This fund is financed by contributions from the EU Emissions Trading System.

European Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra, commented, “The Innovation Fund drives the deployment of innovative, low-carbon technologies in Europe. With EUR 230 million allocated from the EU Emission Trading System for the GO4ZERO project, we look forward to seeing this example of cutting-edge partnership across the value chain to create a new ecosystem for carbon capture and storage. This is exactly in line with the European Green Deal’s objective to fully mobilize industry to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.”

CEO Holcim Group, Miljan Gutovic, mentioned, “By advancing decarbonization as a driver of profitable growth, Holcim is on course to make net-zero cement and concrete a reality at scale this decade. GO4ZERO is one of our six large-scale, European Union-supported carbon capture, utilization and storage projects. These aim to capture a total of over 5 million tons of CO2 per annum, enabling us to offer over 8 million tons of fully decarbonized cement each year across Europe by 2030.”

Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, added, “Belgium can take great pride in the foundation of Holcim’s new plant in Obourg. This investment symbolizes exactly the vision that our country has been pursuing for the past four years: build a future for industry in Europe, with the highest standards in terms of innovation and CO2 objectives. And here, in a crucial field like construction.”