Groundwork construction for the UK’s first carbon capture facility at a cement works is advancing at the Heidelberg Materials Padeswood site in north Wales, according to a report from World Cement. Initial engineering operations on the project have reached major development milestones as site preparation moves forward.
Padeswood Site Prepares Foundation with Advanced Aggregate and Piling
To prepare the primary working areas across the Padeswood site, project teams have utilized more than 60,000 tonnes of aggregate. Infrastructure progress also includes the installation of over 600 concrete piles—containing roughly 5,000 cubic metres of concrete—inserted by two piling rigs during construction of a structural retaining wall. The retaining wall provides necessary structural stability for heavy civil operations across the site.
Integration of evoZero Cement for Sustainable Infrastructure
All concrete deployed for the new carbon capture facility incorporates evoZero carbon-captured near-zero cement. This specialized evoZero cement derives its sustainability credentials from carbon capture and storage operations conducted at the Heidelberg Materials Brevik plant in Norway, supported by chain-of-custody models.
Simon Willis, Chief Executive Officer of Heidelberg Materials UK, expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction, noting that the project is transitioning from planning into reality. Willis stated that evoZero cement is being used wherever possible to reduce the project’s carbon impact, highlighting the symmetry of using a product made with CCS to build infrastructure for another CCS project.
Project Management, Workforce Scaling, and Emissions Targets
This phase of groundwork is managed by engineering firm Worley, which—alongside Mitsubishi Heavy Industries—was awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction management contract for the Padeswood cement works facility. On-site activity currently involves an average of 80 construction workers daily, a figure expected to double by the end of the year.
The Padeswood project builds on the operational model established at the Brevik plant. While the Brevik facility is designed to capture approximately 50 percent of its carbon emissions—equating to roughly 400,000 tonnes per year—the Padeswood facility is engineered to capture nearly all existing emissions, reaching approximately 95 percent or 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually at full capacity.
