The Padeswood CCS Project is a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facility being owned and developed by Heidelberg Materials UK (previously Hanson UK) in the UK.
After the UK Government’s approval, a Final Investment Decision (FID) will be made by Heidelberg Materials which expects to commence the construction of the facility in Quarter 1 (Q1) of 2025.
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With a capturing capacity of up to 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, the project will support the economy of the UK by providing 54 new full-time and up to 350 additional jobs.
The project will protect 222 direct and indirect jobs and provide additional supply chain opportunities.
The construction phase will create 15,000 indirect and 2.5 million jobs for 2,500 people in the UK employed in the cement industry.
Heidelberg will provide a capital investment of more than £400m in the development of the facility and aims to put it into operation as early as 2028.
Selected as a Track 1 capture project by the UK Government, the project may also receive funding through the Phase-2 Cluster Sequencing Programme of the Government of UK.
The programme is a part of the UK Government’s ten-point plan and will provide £20bn funding for the early development of CCS projects.
Padeswood CCS Project Location
The Padeswood CCS Project will be developed within the Padeswood Cement Plant of Heidelberg Materials UK in North Wales.
The Padeswood Cement Plant is located in the Mold Town of the Flintshire County. The plant is 4828.03m (three miles) east of Mold off the A5118 Highway.
Padeswood CCS Project Details
The Padeswood CCS Project is an integral part of the HyNet North West Project that could reduce 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in the UK. The project will be constructed within the first net zero cement facility in the UK.
The infrastructure of the facility will consist of a Post Combustion Carbon Capture and Compression (PCCC) plant, a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, access roads, and parking.
The infrastructure will also include construction and laydown compound areas, a temporary office space, a limestone store, a wet sand mill, a raw meal silo, heat exchange towers, and a small central control building.
Som of the existing infrastructure of the cement plant is planned to be modified and new connecting infrastructure like conveyors, ducts, and supports will be installed.
The PCCC plant will be built in the southwestern part of the site and could be approximately 250m*100m*25m (length*breadth*height). The plant will also have an absorber tower with a height of up to 100m.
The CHP plant would be developed in the southwestern part of the site and could be approximately 50m*20m*40m.
The plant will supply power for the operation of the project by generating at least 12MW of electricity and 83MW of heat.
The process of carbon capture and storage starts with the capturing of emissions and carbon dioxide from the cement plant and cement manufacturing process heated to 900oC by the preheater tower.
The captured emissions and carbon dioxide will enter the kiln system which will remove dust from the gas flow.
The flue gases will be cleaned in the Selective Reduction Plant (SCR) and carbon dioxide would be collected from the flue gases by reacting with the amine solvent.
Through heat exchange, carbon dioxide will be stripped from the amine solvent returning the lean amine solvent to the absorber tower.
Carbon dioxide will be compressed and then sent to the Point of Ayr and then to the Liverpool Bay carbon dioxide store (more than 1,000m below the seabed and approximately 32,000m offshore) for permanent storage via HyNet’s underground pipeline.
The stored carbon dioxide will be covered by a dense layer of shale.
Padeswood CCS Contractors
In February 2024, Heidelberg Materials awarded Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) contract for the Padeswood CCS Project to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) in partnership with Worley.
MHI will provide its Advanced KM CDR Process technology for the project. The technology is a carbon dioxide capture technology jointly developed by MHI and The Kansai Electric Power.
The work scope of FEED will be carried out by MHI and Worley teams in Manchester, London, Aberdeen, and Glasgow.
MHI Engineering (MHIENG) was selected in December 2022 by Heidelberg to provide Pre-FEED for the project. To conduct the Pre-FEED of the project, MHIENG will deliver its Advanced KM CDR Process.
