Heidelberg Materials has been granted planning permission to build a carbon capture plant (CCP) at its Padeswood cement works in north Wales.

The decision by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales means its plans to create the UK’s first net zero cement works are a step closer. 

The facility aims to capture and store up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year from the existing cement works, which will be transported via the HyNet North West underground pipeline for secure storage under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

The company says the project will bring significant economic benefits to the area through investment and job creatio.

It is expected to create around 50 new full-time jobs, and up to 500 additional jobs during construction.

“This is fantastic news and a huge step forward for our Padeswood carbon capture and storage (CCS) project,” said CEO Simon Willis.

“Cement is essential to the UK’s transition to net zero. It is fundamental to the development of everything from new offshore wind farms, to nuclear power stations, to low carbon infrastructure, and the thousands of green jobs that these projects will create.”

The production of cement is carbon intensive, with a large proportion of these emissions resulting from the chemical process involved in cement’s manufacture, so they cannot be reduced by using low carbon or renewable energy sources.

The only way to remove them and produce the net zero cement the UK needs is to capture them using CCS before they enter the atmosphere.

Once operational, the Padeswood facility will capture almost all of the CO₂ produced during cement manufacture and enable the production of evoZero carbon captured net zero cement as early as 2029.