Ambuja Cements, the Adani Group’s cement and building materials company, has signed an agreement with Leilac, a UK-headquartered clean technology company specialising in carbon capture and electrification for emissions-intensive industries, to develop a commercial-scale, low-carbon cement project in Gujarat, India.
To be run at Ambuja Cements’ 6.6MTPA Sanghi plant in Sanghipuram, Kutch, the project t will test Leilac’s carbon capture technology alongside hybrid electric heating to reduce emissions from cement manufacturing and increase the use of renewable electricity.
Testing carbon capture at a cement plant
The demonstration will capture unavoidable process carbon dioxide from cement production. At the same time, Leilac’s hybrid heating technology will be tested as a way of using electricity alongside fuels in the manufacturing process.
The system is designed to operate on low-carbon or low-cost fuels and electricity. It could also reduce coal consumption to zero while still allowing the use of alternative fuels.
Ambuja said the project supports its wider decarbonisation strategy and its Science Based Targets initiative-validated net-zero target for 2050. The company is advancing the electrification of its cement operations with nearly 1GW of captive green power.
Potential to capture more than one million tonnes of CO₂
The initial project will assess the technology at the Sanghi plant. If the demonstration is successful, the companies said they could scale the project up seven to eight times.
The expanded installation could capture more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. The companies said this could provide a basis for scaling lower-carbon cement production in India and other markets.
The project is currently a commercial demonstration. The proposed larger-scale operation is dependent on the results of the demonstration.
Targeting process emissions from cement production
Leilac’s technology is designed to separate unavoidable carbon emissions without additional chemicals or processes, making them available for use or storage.
At the Sanghi plant, this carbon capture system will be combined with hybrid electric heating. The approach is intended to increase the use of renewable electricity while reducing reliance on coal in cement manufacturing.
Ambuja currently has 109MTPA of cement capacity across 24 integrated manufacturing plants and 22 grinding units. Its decarbonisation programme also includes investments in renewable energy and in waste heat recovery.
The Sanghi project will test whether Leilac’s carbon capture and heating technologies can operate together at commercial scale. A successful demonstration would enable the companies to consider the proposed seven- to eightfold expansion and its potential to capture more than one million tonnes of CO₂ annually.
