Heidelberg Materials France opens new Airvault kiln line
Photo: Airvault cement plant (Source: Heidelberg Materials)
Heidelberg Materials France has commissioned a state-of-the-art kiln line at its Airvault cement plant. It replaces two semi-dry process clinker lines with a modern pre-calciner system with an annual capacity of 1.25 million tons. This milestone is part of the company’s modernisation project at its Airvault site that will enable almost 90% of the plant’s energy demand to be covered by alternative fuels and reduce specific electricity consumption by around 10%. The modernisation project involves an investment of more than €350 million and is partly funded by the French government. These measures also pave the way for Airvault GOCO2, a carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) project at the site.
With a planned capture capacity of around 1 million tonnes of CO2 per year, Airvault GOCO2 is part of the broader GOCO2 initiative to decarbonise Western France. Heidelberg Materials also secured a funding grant for the CCUS project from the EU Innovation Fund. The transformation of the Airvault site marks an important milestone in Heidelberg Materials’ decarbonisation roadmap, which aims to substantially reduce net specific Scope 1 CO2 emissions by 2030 to below 400 kg of CO2 per tonne of cementitious material. The Group aims to generate over 50% of its revenue from sustainable products that are either low-carbon or circular by 2030.
Dr. Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board of Heidelberg Materials said: “The latest milestone in modernising our Airvault site sets new benchmarks in operational efficiency and decarbonisation. Our customers will benefit from a strong low carbon product offering, delivered from one of the most modern and efficient cement plants in Europe.”
 |
Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Tech Science Press. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |