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Representatives of WESTKÜSTE100 project meet with the Minister of Economic Affairs at Holcim’s Lägerdorf cement works

Published by , Deputy Editor
World Cement,


On 30 November Dr. Bernd Buchholz, Economics Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, visited the Holcim cement plant in Lägerdorf. At the centre of the information exchange between the Minister of Economic Affairs and the representatives of the WESTKÜSTE100 real-life laboratory were questions of industrial decarbonisation. At the location, Thorsten Hahn, Chairman of the Management Board of Holcim (Deutschland) GmbH, the Plant Manager, Torsten Krohn, and other project partners of the WESTKÜSTE100 real-life laboratory (Ørsted, EDF, Heide Refinery, Development Agency Region Heide, West Coast University of Applied Sciences) talked about Holcim as well as about current interim statuses in the subprojects of the real laboratory informed. Two project partners (Raffinerie Heide and Ørsted) were connected via video conference.

WESTKÜSTE100 is the first funded real laboratory of the energy transition in Germany in the field of sector coupling and hydrogen technologies. It received a funding decision of €30 million from the Federal Ministry of Economics in August 2020. Green hydrogen and decarbonisation on an industrial scale is the basic idea for the final targeted sector, coupling with large-scale industrial scaling (700 MW). The consortium wants to produce green hydrogen from offshore wind energy and use the resulting waste heat and oxygen. The hydrogen will then be used both for the production of climate-friendly fuels for aircrafts and fed into gas networks. As a constant supplier of the raw material CO2, the cement works is a central component, because without large amounts of CO2, methanol cannot be synthesised. Green hydrogen alone is not enough here to produce synthetic hydrocarbons. The production of climate-friendly fuels is only possible after the upstream methanol synthesis.

Where do we stand on decarbonisation? In the first block there were various insights into the project world:

Dirk Burmeister (Development Agency Region Heide) briefly presented the overarching innovation-oriented network ENTREE100, which also includes the WESTKÜSTE100 real-world laboratory and other related sub-projects in Schleswig-Holstein.

The Holcim cement plant in Lägerdorf plays a key role in industrial decarbonisation. Arne Stecher (Holcim) discussed the planned CO2 capture at the point source (sub-project OXY100) and the later cross-sector use. CO2 from the cement plant is becoming an important raw material for the production of more climate-friendly fuels such as green kerosene. Martin Peters (Holcim) discussed the need to secure long-term raw materials.

Jürgen Wollschläger (Heide Refinery) explained the KEROSyN100 funding project and the important role of methanol synthesis, which stands between CO2 separation in a cement plant and a refinery. Prof. Dr. Michael Berger (West Coast University of Applied Sciences) presented the Institute for the Transformation of the Energy System (ITE), which has been summarising university competencies in the field of energy transition since 2018 (CAMPUS100) and also supports the WESTKÜSTE100 project.

At the end of the first block, Martin Eckhard (Development Agency Region Heide) outlined the upcoming funding management when the WESTKÜSTE100 real-world laboratory embarks on the implementation of the desired version of ‘large-scale industrial scaling’.

In a second block, the project partners discussed various questions and requests for regulation at state, federal and EU level with Minister of Economics Buchholz in order to provide the best possible support for the project at every process stage of WESTKÜSTE100, including:

  • Further expansion of offshore wind power in Schleswig-Holstein
  • Electrolysis is exempt from the EEG levy
  • Implementation of the European RED II into national law
  • Connection of Carbon Capture and Utilisation to the ETS trading system

Host Thorsten Hahn, Chairman of the Management Board of Holcim (Deutschland) GmbH, said:

“With the WESTKÜSTE100 project, we are all making an important contribution to the scaling and dissemination of climate-friendly technologies. At WESTKÜSTE100 we now have to move forward quickly, decisively and with great strides in order to achieve the sector coupling with large-scale industrial scaling that we are ultimately striving for in the coming years. For us as a manufacturer of building materials, the subproject OXY100 is an important milestone on the way to decarbonising cement production and downstream climate-friendly concrete production. Due to the general conditions here in Schleswig-Holstein, the Lägerdorf plant is particularly suitable for this innovative transformation step. As a pioneering lighthouse project, it is therefore also of national and European importance. The currently ongoing feasibility study in Lägerdorf is an important first step here. In order not to lose any more time in the implementation process, we at Holcim applied for further EU funding for the targeted large-scale industrial scale at the end of October.”

Minister Buchholz:

“Innovation is a key for economic development as well as for the energy transition and decarbonisation. In Schleswig-Holstein, industrial companies, other companies and other players have invented projects relating to renewable energies, hydrogen and decarbonisation. WESTKÜSTE100 is one such project. It will not only show new ways to climate protection and circular economy. At the same time, it can be an example of building a green industry in rural areas. This innovation project still needs public funding today. Tomorrow, however, its expansion and follow-up projects should contribute to value creation in the country, with new jobs and as a place of even more innovation."

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/02122020/representatives-of-westkste100-project-meet-with-the-minister-of-economic-affairs-at-holcims-lgerdorf-cement-works/

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