The Vicat Group announces that its North American subsidiary, National Cement Company of California Inc, has signed a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Energy (DOE), – Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, for the development of the Lebec Net Zero (LNZ) project at the Lebec cement plant in California.
The cooperative agreement commits up to $500 million, contributing to up to 50% of the phase 1 cost to finance the project.
The LNZ project includes the construction of a CO2 sequestration facility, known as Carbon Capture and Storage, with an annual capacity of around 950,000 metric tons of CO2, i.e., almost all the cement plant’s emissions.
The LNZ project will also make it possible to increase the consumption of alternative fuels via locally sourced biomass agricultural byproducts and to reduce the clinker rate through the production of cement based on calcined clays.
This project aims to demonstrate that a combination of different decarbonization levers can reduce an existing cement plant’s CO2 emission to zero. As a result, the Lebec plant will produce carbon-neutral cement.
Initial activity in the first phase of the project involves carrying out a preliminary engineering study (Pre-Front End Engineering and Design study) and setting up a Community Advisory Body in charge of relations with local communities. This phase will run through Q1 2026.
Guy Sidos, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This decision by the US Department of Energy demonstrates the relevance and realism of the Vicat Group’s decarbonization roadmap. I welcome this decision by the American authorities to support National Cement, because without public funding, this project would not be possible. I congratulate the National Cement teams on this first step.”
Read more: Holcim Group To Test Capsol’s Carbon Capture Technology As A Step Towards Decarbonized Cement
