Holcim has broken ground at the state-of-the-art OLYMPUS project at its Milaki cement plant in Greece. The EUR400m project is engineered to produce 2Mta of near-zero cement from 2029 and has been selected for a grant from the EU Innovation Fund. The ceremony was held in the presence of Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
OLYMPUS will deploy the combination of OxyCalciner and Cryocap™ FG technologies as a novel cost-efficient innovation for carbon capture. At the regional level, it is expected that OLYMPUS will create more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing to the overall economic development of the surrounding area in Evia. Holcim is partnering with Air Liquide on the project with EUR125m in support from the Innovation Fund, financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System.
"This is a project of strategic importance, a project made possible thanks to the combination of private funding from the parent company — and we thank you for the trust you place in our country — as well as significant European funding. And surely, this investment did not receive the name of the legendary OLYMPUS by chance. We are talking about an investment of nearly EUR400m, of which EUR125m are European funds. But, of course, I would say that the most important aspect is the creation of well-paid jobs: more than 1000 new positions during the construction phase alone, and an additional 100 jobs during the operational phase. I would say this is the social footprint left by the advancement of industry in our country,” said Mr Mitsotakis.
Miljan Gutovic, CEO Holcim Group: “Holcim is on course to make near-zero cement and concrete a reality at scale this decade, as the leading partner for sustainable construction. The OLYMPUS project in Greece is one of our seven large-scale, European Union-supported carbon capture, utilisation and storage projects that are setting the Clean Industrial Deal in motion. Together, these will enable Holcim to offer over 8Mt of near-zero cement each year across Europe by 2030.”
