Planning milestone reached for Flintshire carbon capture plant

Heidelberg Materials has been granted planning permission to build a carbon capture plant at its Padeswood cement works.

The project is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the area through investment and job creation.

Once operational, the facility will produce net zero cement, supporting efforts to decarbonise the construction industry and helping the UK Government meet its 2050 net zero targets.

The permission, granted by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales, marks a major milestone for Heidelberg Materials UK’s ambition to establish the UK’s first net zero cement works.

The new facility aims to capture and store up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ each year from the existing cement operations. The captured carbon will be transported via the HyNet North West underground pipeline for permanent storage beneath Liverpool Bay.

The project is expected to create around 50 permanent jobs at the site, with up to 500 additional roles supported during the construction phase.

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

“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.”

Cement production is a carbon-intensive process, with a large share of emissions resulting from the chemical reactions required to make cement. These cannot be eliminated through renewable energy alone. CCS is currently the only available method to prevent these emissions from entering the atmosphere.

Once operational, the Padeswood facility will capture almost all the CO₂ produced during cement manufacture and enable the production of evoZero, a carbon captured, net zero cement. The company aims to have this in use as early as 2029.

The development represents a major step towards decarbonising the construction sector and achieving the UK’s national climate targets.