Holcim has partnered with carbon-mineralisation company 44.01 to launch what is described as the world’s first pilot project that combines CO2 captured directly from a cement plant with in-situ mineralisation. The initiative, located in Fujairah, aims to provide permanent geological storage for cement-sector emissions and supports the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 strategy.
The pilot intends initially to capture around 5t/day of process CO2 from cement production and inject it into suitable underground rock formations where the gas will mineralise. The partners say the process provides a natural, safe and permanent form of carbon storage and represents a first-of-its-kind deployment of carbon capture and mineralisation within the global cement industry.
The project is supported by the Fujairah Natural Resources Corporation and delivered in collaboration with NT Energies – a joint venture between Technip Energies and NMDC Energy. Shell CANSOLV™ carbon capture solutions will be deployed through the alliance between Shell Catalysts & Technologies and Technip Energies.
For Holcim, the initiative aligns with the group’s NextGen Growth 2030 strategy and wider plans to scale low-carbon, circular and carbon-capture technologies across its global operations. The company said the Fujairah plant will act as a demonstration site for technologies that could later be replicated across cement assets in the region and internationally.
For 44.01, the project represents its first collaboration with an industrial customer and a European multinational, and is viewed as an important step in scaling its mineralisation technology toward commercial and eventually gigaton applications. The company noted that the pilot supports a growing customer pipeline as it works to introduce mineralisation projects in key global markets.
Project partners said the initiative shows how collaboration between industry, technology developers and local authorities can help advance decarbonisation in hard-to-abate industrial sectors while contributing to long-term sustainable development in the UAE.
