The Slite CCS Project is a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facility located in Slite, Sweden. The project is owned and will be developed by Heidelberg Materials.
Heidelberg announced investment in the project and initiated a pre-feasibility study in 2021.
Recommended White Papers
The study was conducted by Heidelberg and Industriklivet, a Swedish Energy Agency’s program. The results showed that the project is feasible.
In May 2022, HeidelbergCement and Cementa, HeidelbergCement’s Swedish subsidiary, announced the results of a pre-feasibility study.
Currently the project is in the feasibility stage initiated in 2022. This stage is co-financed by the Swedish Energy Agency and is expected to be completed by 2024.
Heidelberg Materials expects to make the Final Investment Decision on the project by 2026/2027. The estimated investment at the facility is approximately €900m.
The construction of the facility will commence in 2027. The construction will take three years to complete and will be completed in 2030.
The facility will be commissioned in 2030 and will produce cement beyond net-zero emissions by enabling negative emissions and acting as a carbon sink by 2030.
Being one of Sweden’s significant climate transition projects, the Slite CCS aims to reduce the total carbon dioxide emissions of Sweden by four per cent.
Slite CCS Project Location Details
The Slite CCS Project will be located in Slite on the Swedish island of Gotland. The facility will be developed within the Slite Cement Plant owned by Heidelberg Materials.
Being the largest cement plant in Europe, the Slite Cement Plant is located on the east coast of Gotland. The CCS project will be built next to the Eastern quarry (Ostra brottet), a stone storage site.
Slite CCS Project Details
The heated limestone will release a large amount of carbon dioxide trapped in it. Of the total carbon dioxide emissions through the chimney, about 40% will come from fuel heating the kilns and about 60% from the heating of limestone.
The emissions will be captured by the purification plant which will cool the flue gases and purify nitrogen and sulphur.
The flue gases will be conveyed into an absorber (100m high tower) where the gases will rise through an amine solution.
The rising gases through the amine solution will separate amines which react instantaneously with carbon absorbing carbon dioxide.
The amine solution will be transferred into another desorber (a large tube) which will separate the carbon dioxide or boil it off from the amines.
The Pure carbon dioxide will be captured, and the rest gases will be released into the air sustainably.
The captured pure carbon dioxide will be compressed into a liquid form. The volume of the gas will be reduced by 540 times as it undergoes high pressure and cooling.
The cooled liquid carbon dioxide will be stored in specific storage containers in the deep Eastern quarry (Ostra brottet).
The cooled liquid carbon dioxide is loaded to ships after storage in closed tanks and then transported to its permanent geological storage.
Many carbon dioxide storage sites have been developed in the North Sea. The gas will be stored in the bedrock several metres deep.
With time, the stored carbon dioxide gets transformed into minerals becoming a part of the rock. When stored, carbon dioxide emanating from bioenergy creates a carbon sink.
The plant of the Slite CCS Project will capture up to 1.8 million tonnes (mt) of carbon dioxide per year from emissions from fossil fuels and bio-based fuels and for this, the 108m tall chimney of the Slite Cement Plant will be shortened by 60m.
Contractor Involved
Ramboll was selected by Heidelberg Materials to provide support in the undergoing feasibility stage of the Slite CCS Project.
The scope of the contract includes investigation of capture facilities, buffer storage, energy recovery optimisation, and logistics solutions.
