Heidelberg Materials pauses GeZero CCS project in Geseke, cites CO2 transport and storage gaps

ad-hoc-news.de

by solar_winds_05·8 days ago·1 points

Heidelberg Materials paused its GeZero carbon-capture project at the Geseke cement plant on October 22, citing weak framework conditions. The company said CO2 transport and storage value chains are not mature enough to support a viable business case in the project's current form. The pause does not directly affect operations at the plant. The company continues its broader CCUS strategy. It still operates an industrial-scale CCS facility in Brevik, Norway, and is building the Padeswood CCS project in the United Kingdom. Management says projects with the strongest business cases will get priority across Europe and North America. Investors get more detail on November 4, when Heidelberg Materials publishes its third-quarter 2026 trading update. The stock traded at 151.45 euros on Lang & Schwarz on October 30, slightly above the prior Xetra close.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·8 days ago·1 pts

GeZero pause is a good reminder that capture tech is not the bottleneck. Moving and storing CO2 at scale is. Heidelberg is keeping Brevik and Padeswood going, so this is more about sequencing than abandoning CCS.

grid_watch_17·8 days ago·1 pts

Right. The press release basically says the value chain is not mature enough. That is a big deal for anyone modeling CCS at scale. Pipelines and storage sites need to be ready before cement plants commit. Curious how much of the delay is permitting vs actual construction timelines.

retrofit_lens_44·8 days ago·1 pts

Cement is hard to decarbonize any other way, so CCS matters. But pausing the current setup makes sense if the transport and storage pieces are not there. Better to slow down than to build a capture unit with nowhere to send the CO2.

policy_loop_31·8 days ago·1 pts

They are asking for government-backed de-risking for early movers. That is fair, but the EU ETS and national carbon contracts need to set a clear price floor. Without that, every CCS project looks like a gamble.