Vicat CCS project in France received a 2nd grant
Photo: Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant (Credit: Vicat Group)
The VAIA (Vicat Advanced Industrial Alliance) CCS carbon capture and storage project by Vicat aims to capture and store 1.2 Mta of CO2 at the Montalieu-Vercieu (photo) cement plant, representing nearly 100% of the plant’s emissions. Now the French Government has awarded a *Grand Projets Industriels de Décarbonation* (GPID) grant for the project, in the largest cement plant in France. The GPID grant is part of the French government’s Major Investment Plans to accelerate the country’s ecological and industrial transition. Studies are ongoing for the project with a final investment decision scheduled for 2027, to create a unique value chain in the Rhone Valley with CO2 capture, transport, and liquefaction for underground storage.
Earlier, the VAIA project had already been selected by the EU Innovation Fund in November 2025. According to the grant description, the project proposes a scalable and replicable blueprint for the decarbonization of the cement sector. Additionally, to the proposed CCS technology for carbon capturing, the clinker content of the produced cement shall be reduced by producing calcined clay, using the innovative MECAClay. The reduced and captured CO2 from the plant shall be transported via a converted pipeline to Fos-sur-Mer, where it will be liquefied and permanently sequestered in geological reservoirs.
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