The cement manufacturer is investing 50 million euros in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly cement grinding plant.
Alpacem, market leader in cement, concrete and raw materials in the Alpe-Adria region, is taking the next step towards low-emission production of cement at the Wietersdorf site. With the ZEUS modernization program (strengthening cement grinding in an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly way), which is to be implemented by the beginning of 2027, modern production concepts will be implemented at the Wietersdorf cement plant. The aim is to reduce the CO 2 footprint of Alpacem products, increase energy efficiency and relieve the strain on the power grid. Alpacem expects this to reduce CO 2 emissions by 21,000 tons per year. The company is investing around 50 million euros in the site, thereby underlining the importance of the Wietersdorf cement plant within the Alpacem Group.
A new cement grinding plant is to be realised in three project stages. In project stage 1, a new plant configuration with two storage silos as the core will be built, which will in future take over the pre-grinding and drying of some of the clinker-saving additives. It is operated using the waste heat from the clinker kiln. This sub-project is currently awaiting approval from the responsible authority and is scheduled to go into operation in the first half of 2025 - depending on the approval process.
Project stage 2 includes the construction of a cement silo plant. The focus here is on increasing storage capacity. This ensures that green energy can be used optimally. Increasing storage capacity also allows for more flexible production planning, which in turn relieves the load on the power grid. The cement silo plant is also equipped with a modern rail loading system in order to make greater use of this transport route in the future. Completion is planned for 2026.
The commissioning of the new cement mill in project stage 3, which is planned for 2027, will enable more efficient production of low-emission and innovative cements. It will also bring further flexibility in production planning.
The ZEUS project is part of a 3-phase plan by Alpacem to make cement production CO2-neutral by 2035. In phase 1, the focus is on exploiting known technologies that should lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions. The modernization program presented today is part of this phase 1. After implementation of the ZEUS project in Wietersdorf, around 21,000 tons of CO2 will be saved per year. The electricity requirement will be reduced by around 7,800 MWh. This corresponds to a 10 percent energy saving in the Wietersdorf cement plant. In addition, the natural gas requirement will also fall by more than 400,000 m3.
The ZEUS project complements the measures already implemented at the Wietersdorf cement plant. Fossil fuels are being replaced by low-CO2 fuels , electricity is being produced from the plant's own hydropower and the proportion of alternative raw materials is being continuously increased. All of these measures are part of the 3-phase plan.
