Heidelberg Materials has commissioned a state-of-the-art kiln line at its Airvault cement plant in the French New Aquitaine region, marking a further milestone in the modernisation of the site.
Earlier, the company reported progress on the first phase of the Airvault modernisation project, including the installation of a new kiln designed to replace two semi-dry process lines and significantly reduce CO₂ emissions.
The project, with an investment of more than 350 million EUR, involves the transition to a dry clinker production process featuring a modern pre-calciner system and replaces two semi-dry process clinker lines. The new clinker production line has a capacity of 1.25 million tonnes per year.
According to the company, the modernisation will reduce electricity consumption per tonne of cement by around 10% and enable up to 90 % of the plant’s energy demand to be covered by alternative fuels. Additional emissions reductions will be achieved by lowering the clinker factor and introducing calcined clay. Together, these measures will reduce the carbon footprint of the plant’s cement products by almost 30 %.
The modernisation also paves the way for the AirvaultGOCO₂ carbon capture project, with a planned capture capacity of around 1 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. The project has already secured funding from the EU Innovation Fund and forms part of a broader initiative to decarbonise western France.
The company expects that by 2030 more than 50 % of its revenue will be generated from sustainable products, and aims to achieve Net Zero by 2050 at the latest.
