Holcim (Zug, Switzerland) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at its state-of-the-art GO4ZERO plant engineered to produce 2 million tons of net-zero cement per year by 2029 in Obourg, Belgium. With a planned investment of over €500 million, the GO4ZERO project will put innovation to work to advance Europe’s decarbonization.
Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium: “Belgium can take great pride in the foundation of Holcim’s new plant in Obourg. This investment symbolizes exactly the vision that our country has been pursuing for the past four years: build a future for industry in Europe, with the highest standards in terms of innovation and CO2 objectives. And here, in a crucial field like construction.”
Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for Climate Action: “The Innovation Fund drives the deployment of innovative, low-carbon technologies in Europe. With EUR 230 million allocated from the EU Emission Trading System for the GO4ZERO project, we look forward to seeing this example of cutting-edge partnership across the value chain to create a new ecosystem for carbon capture and storage. This is exactly in line with the European Green Deal’s objective to fully mobilize industry to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.”
Miljan Gutovic, CEO Holcim Group: “By advancing decarbonization as a driver of profitable growth, Holcim is on course to make net-zero cement and concrete a reality at scale this decade. GO4ZERO is one of our six large-scale, European Union-supported carbon capture, utilization and storage projects. These aim to capture a total of over 5 million tons of CO₂ per annum, enabling us to offer over 8 million tons of fully decarbonized cement each year across Europe by 2030.”
The GO4ZERO project transforms cement manufacturing at every stage of the process. Accelerating decarbonized energy use, more than 95% of its energy will be sourced from alternative fuels, while over 30% of its raw mix will come from partly decarbonized alternative raw materials – predominantly waste generated by other industries, thereby advancing circularity. As a result, the plant will cut CO2 emissions by 30% as early as 2027, and it will also operate Europe’s largest installation of floating solar panels. Holcim is partnering with Air Liquide on the project with EUR 230 million in support from the Innovation Fund, which is financed by revenues from the EU Emissions Trading System.