Since 2016, HeidelbergCement has worked to develop and test a new process for cement production (LEILAC), which will contribute to reducing the costs of carbon capture. A pilot facility was built in 2019 in Lixhe, Belgium, with a capacity of around 80,000 tonnes per year. The results were published last autumn and show that the process works as intended and that carbon capture can be achieved without having to use additional energy.

Amine process more expensive than LEILAC

The study estimated that the cost of carbon capture to be €12.5 per tonne of CO2 before compression compared to €20 for a traditional amine-based process, like the one used at Brevik. The analysis concludes that if carbon produced from the energy required for the amine process is also to be captured, the total cost of carbon capture using amine technology will be around €50 per tonne of CO2 – significantly more expensive than the LEILAC process. This also means that the investment cost of the LEILAC process, both for retrofitting and new installations, is significantly lower compared to an amine-based process. Heidelberg recently decided to continue LEILAC in a slightly larger pilot in Hannover, Germany. The purpose of the pilot is to validate the costs of building and using the technology, as well as the conditions associated with the integration and operation of the facility. The pilot is slated to be in operation in 2023.

This is a part of the CCS environmental analysis, written by Gassnova’s analysis team. 

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