Today, Cementir inaugurated the second carbon capture pilot plant at its Aalborg cement plant in Denmark. The carbon capture facility will test a new CCUS (carbon capture utilization and storage) technology that can potentially eliminate a significant part of the energy consumption and at the same time ensure better utilization of the captured CO₂.
 
The inauguration took place in connection with the CCUS Forum conference held by The European Union in Aalborg, attended by His Royal Highness The Crown Prince, the EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and the Minister for Energy, Climate and Utilities Lars Aagaard, among other personalities.

The facility will be built under the auspices of the EU-funded project collaboration ConsenCUS, which has a number of international research institutions and companies on board. Among other things, the project aims to test a new technology that can potentially eliminate large parts of the energy consumption of carbon capture and ensure a better utilization of the captured CO₂.

Aalborg Portland CEO Søren Holm Christensen commented, “We are very honored that His Royal Highness will make the official inauguration of our new carbon capture facility at Aalborg Portland. It will undoubtedly be an important reminder of Aalborg Portland's journey towards more climate-friendly cement production in Denmark. Carbon capture is crucial for Denmark's and Aalborg Portland's climate goals, and with the commissioning of a new pilot plant for carbon capture, Aalborg Portland is laying a new steppingstone on the road to Danish-produced cement with a significantly lower carbon footprint. The new carbon capture facility will provide us with valuable experience that can contribute to the establishment of a full-scale carbon capture facility, with the goal of capturing at least 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ by 2030".

Cementir Group already started investigating carbon capture technologies at Aalborg plant in 2022, when it established its first pilot plant under the project CORT, in collaboration with the Danish Technical University and with the support of The Innovation Fund Denmark. 
The goal of the new carbon capture plant at Aalborg Portland is to test a more energy-efficient CCS technology that can potentially halve energy consumption compared to traditional carbon capture methods by using an electrochemical method powered exclusively by electricity. At the same time the new plant will explore the possibilities of creating a more usable end-product of the captured CO₂, by converting the captured CO₂ into formic acid, a valuable resource for chemical industry.

This project has received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101022484.

Read more about the ConsenCUS collaboration at www.consencus.eu.