Background

What is carbon dioxide?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a greenhouse gas, which means it contributes to global warming and climate change. It is produced by many processes, including the burning of fossil fuels and the chemical processes by which cement is made. The UK and other governments around the world are trying to cut emissions of this gas to help limit climate change.

What is net zero?

The UK produces greenhouse gases, but it can also remove them from the environment. Net zero is when the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions are equal to the amount removed from the environment.

The UK can reduce its emissions through carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other measures such as switching to renewable energy or using biogenic material (which stores CO₂) as part of the fuel mix.

What is carbon capture and storage (CCS) and how does it contribute to net zero?

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) does exactly what it says – capturing carbon dioxide produced during manufacture before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it by pipeline, and storing it safely under the seabed. At our cement works in Padeswood, north Wales, this will enable us to produce near-zero cement, which can be used in construction projects across the UK.

Everything from new homes, schools and hospitals to offshore wind farms, nuclear power stations and clean transport infrastructure uses cement, so it is crucial that we make the entire process – from production to construction to maintenance – carbon neutral.

Why is CCS needed at Padeswood?

Cement is an essential construction material. It is the ‘glue’ in concrete – the most widely used building material in the world.

But its production is currently carbon intensive and most of the emissions (around 70%) occur as part of the chemical reaction required to make cement, so can’t be reduced by using low carbon energy sources.

It is widely recognised that CCS is required to decarbonise the cement industry and mitigate against climate change. The role of carbon capture is recognised by governments across the world and, in the UK, The Climate Change Committee has described CCS as “a necessity and not an option.”

The carbon capture plant at Padeswood will remove CO₂ from the cement production process, compress it and then transport it via pipeline so that it can be stored safely in depleted gas fields under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

Using CCS to help decarbonise cement production in the UK will also help make the industry more competitive and protect it from the increasing amount of imports, which are threatening domestic cement supply and the jobs associated with it.

Is carbon capture and storage safe?

Yes. CCS technology has been used safely for over 40 years in other countries, including Norway and Canada.

We will work with expert partners to transport the CO₂ from Padeswood and store it in depleted oil and gas fields in Liverpool Bay that are covered by thick, impermeable, rock formations, called cap-rocks. These avoid any CO₂ leakage to the surface – much like natural gas and oil have been trapped over millions of years without any leakage to the surface.

What stakeholder engagement was carried out about your plans?

In October 2022 we held drop-in events in Buckley and Penyffordd where we introduced our plans and invited participants to feed back their comments.

In January and February 2023 we held our non-statutory consultation. As part of this, we held two public online events and four drop-in events in Buckley and Penyffordd. We shared our proposals in more detail and participants were able to ask our team questions. We also invited all participants to submit written feedback on our proposals, which could be done online or by post.

In addition, we updated our website with our project brochure, sent letters to all local residents, placed adverts in local papers, issued a press release, shared information via Penyffordd Community Council and Buckley Town Council social media and placed posters and brochures in local venues.

We then held a statutory consultation on our proposed carbon capture project between Tuesday 02 July and Monday 12 August 2024. It presented our updated detailed proposals, potential significant impacts and the mitigation measures to be employed to avoid, reduce and/or off-set any potential impacts.

Feedback received during the process helped influence the design of the project and our application was submitted to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) in September 2024, accompanied by an Environmental Statement. In April 2025 PEDW granted planning permission and, in September 2025, we reached a FID (Final Investment Decision) with the UK Government.

Does Heidelberg Materials have any other CCS projects in progress?

Yes. We opened the world’s first industrial scale carbon capture facility at a cement works in Brevik, Norway, in June 2025. Brevik CCS captures 50 per cent of the plant’s CO₂ emissions and is part of the Norwegian government’s Longship CCS project.

Based on the knowledge and experience gained at Brevik, Heidelberg Materials has around a dozen other CCS projects underway, most of which are looking at higher carbon capture rates.

The Padeswood CCS project will be the next to be operational in 2029, but others are also being progressed across Europe (e.g. Geseke, Germany, and Slite, Sweden) as well as Canada, Morocco and the USA.

You can find out more about all of our projects on our CCUS experience website.

Padeswood CCS project

What are the next steps for the project?

Planning permission was granted by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) in April 2025 following statutory consultation and we reached a FID with UK Government in September 2025. Construction of the carbon capture facility has started and will be operational in 2029.

Which kind of carbon capture technology are you planning to implement at Padeswood?

There are a number of different technologies available for carbon capture but we are using an amine CO₂ capture process. It is the same technology utilised at our Brevik cement works in Norway, which became the world’s first industrial-scale carbon capture facility at a cement works when it opened in June 2025.

You can find out more by visiting our CCUS experience website.

Where will the carbon capture facility be built?

We are building a carbon capture plant at our existing cement works at Padeswood in Flintshire, north Wales, as well as a combined heat and power plant (CHP) to provide the additional energy needed to power the plant.

It means that the operational footprint of the site will extend onto adjacent land, which we already own and manage. The carbon capture facility will be around 250m by 100m and the combined heat and power plant will be approximately 50m by 20m, so equivalent in size to about two or three football pitches overall.

A 10km spur pipeline will also be developed from our site to connect the new plant to the transport and storage system, which is being built by Eni.

How will the carbon captured be transported and stored?

The CO₂ captured during the cement manufacturing process at Padeswood will be compressed and then transported via an underground pipeline for safe and secure storage in depleted natural gas reserves under the seabed in Liverpool Bay.

A 10km spur pipeline will link our site with the wider T&S (transportation and storage) system that will serve the HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster, which is being operated by Eni. It plans to repurpose offshore platforms and 149km of onshore/offshore pipelines and construct 35km of new pipelines to connect Padeswood and others in the cluster.

The Liverpool Bay CO₂ store will be up to 1km below the seabed and approximately 32km offshore. Once there, emissions will remain underground indefinitely.

For more information on transportation and storage, visit: liverpoolbay-ts.co.uk

How can you demonstrate that Padeswood cement works will be net zero?

The carbon capture facility is designed to capture almost all (around 95 per cent) of the CO₂ emissions from the process.

The emissions captured from the kiln include biogenic CO₂ from biomass fuels, mainly from domestic food, wood and paper wastes that cannot be recycled. Biomass is carbon neutral as trees and crops remove CO₂ from the atmosphere as they grow by storing it within their cells. Any CO₂ released from these materials in the kiln would also be captured by the carbon capture facility. As a result, the capture of biogenic CO₂ will allow the cement produced at Padeswood to be net zero and possibly net negative.

What is evoZero cement?

evoZero is the world’s first carbon captured near-zero cement and will be produced at Padeswood once the carbon capture facility is operational. It achieves its low carbon footprint through the use of CCS technology, which does not change the chemical composition or performance of the cement, so it can be used for all types of application.

It is a potential gamechanger, setting new standards for sustainable building materials and helping the UK construction industry to decarbonise.

evoZero is already available from our Brevik cement works in Norway, enabling customers in the UK and across Europe to significantly reduce the embodied carbon of their building projects. Find out more about evoZero here.

HyNet North West

How does the Padeswood CCS project fit with the overall HyNet development?

Our Padeswood CCS project is an important part of the wider HyNet North West decarbonisation cluster. HyNet is a complex project that aims to reduce carbon emissions by 10 million tonnes a year by capturing CO₂ and providing locally-produced low carbon hydrogen to power industry and heat homes.

Our carbon capture facility will account for around 800,000 tonnes a year of this substantial saving. The CO₂ captured will be compressed and transported via a pipeline for safe storage in depleted gas fields in Liverpool Bay.

You can find out more about the HyNet project here.

Benefits

Why is Padeswood CCS important for the UK?

In addition to the environmental and economic benefits it brings, our CCS project at Padeswood will position north Wales – and the UK as a whole – as a leading global force in CCS.

The carbon capture facility at Padeswood will be the first of its kind in the UK and act as an exemplar project that can help pave the way to decarbonising other heavy industries. It will also help decarbonise the wider construction sector, helping the UK Government meet its net zero targets and its ambitions to deliver economic growth through construction.

Using CCS to help decarbonise cement production in the UK will also help make the industry more competitive and protect it from the increasing amount of imports, which are threatening domestic cement supply and the jobs associated with it.

How many jobs will the Padeswood CCS project create?

The project will protect over 200 direct and indirect local jobs and create around 50 new ones, as well as up to 500 during construction and more in the supply chain.

Many of the new jobs will be innovative and high skilled – such as engineers dedicated to the delivery of carbon capture. We will also be working closely with nearby schools, colleges and universities to encourage young people to develop the skills needed to operate the carbon capture facility.

Our intention is to ensure that the supply chain contracts are placed locally wherever possible and we will work closely with the main contractor to ensure that the skills and employment opportunities that this project will bring for the region are fully realised.

Funding

How is the project being funded?

Heidelberg Materials has agreed a ‘contract for difference’ with the UK Government. Under the terms of this contract Heidelberg Materials is providing the upfront investment to ensure the project goes ahead and is also responsible for any additional costs over the agreed contract price.

This type of government support is vital to encourage private companies to invest in the innovative technology needed to decarbonise. To be clear, the UK Government is not funding us to make cement – it is supporting us to develop our capture carbon and storage project, which will help it reach its own net zero targets while also growing the CCS sector and creating tens of thousands of new jobs over the coming years.

The funding is part of the Government’s commitment to back carbon capture (made in the June 2025 Spending Review) with £9.4 billion over this Parliament to revitalise Britain’s industrial heartlands with skilled jobs.

Local impact

What impact will the construction work have on the local community?

We will look to minimise disruption where possible and new bunds will be built and planted with native species to act as a visual screen.

We will also adhere to all the strict planning conditions that will shape the construction process. This means that demolition, site clearance and construction works will only take place from 7am-7pm Monday to Friday and 7am-1pm on Saturdays (not on Sundays or Public Holidays).

Activities that cannot be heard beyond the site boundary, such as electrical fitting, welding, safety testing, and fitting inside enclosed structures, as well as any critical continuous works (e.g. concrete pouring) are allowed outside of these hours.

We will operate in accordance with both a Construction Environmental Management Plan and Traffic Management Plan, agreed with Flintshire County Council, the local authority. We will also reduce the environmental impacts of the project and provide enhancements where practical. For example, construction of the carbon capture facility will require some vegetation clearance, so we are creating new areas of habitat and planting trees and shrubs to mitigate for this loss.

Will the existing cement works at Padeswood expand and produce more cement because of the carbon capture facility?

The existing site won’t expand but we may increase cement production in the future. As Padeswood is rail connected we would look to mitigate any increases in production by utilising the rail link where practical to minimise the impact on the road network.

What are the environmental impacts of the CCS project?

A full environmental impact assessment (EIA) was undertaken to support our planning application, which was submitted to Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW) in September 2024 and has now been granted.

An EIA ensures that the Welsh Government and relevant consultees have a comprehensive understanding of the effects of a project, which are then taken into consideration in the decision-making process. We assessed any potential significant environmental effects of the proposals and identified appropriate measures to mitigate these.

Full details of our EIA can be found in our Environmental Statement. The full document, as well as a non-technical summary, can be found here.