"The electrification level of cement plants will be doubled by CCUS" (Laure Hélard, France Ciment)

"We need to deploy CCUS on a large scale in order to capture 2.4 Mt/year of CO2 by 2030, thereby reducing our emissions by 50%. To complete these projects, we have identified a number of obstacles to be overcome, in particular the cost of electricity. Eventually, we will have to double the electrification of cement plants, and the challenge is to make it competitive," Laure Hélard, Managing Director of France Ciment, told News Tank on 29/08/2025.

France Ciment is a trade organisation that brings together five French manufacturers of clinker and cement (Lafarge, Vicat, Heidelberg Materials, Eqiom and Imerys). They operate 20 cement plants in France.

The industry produced 10,505 tonnes of clinker (a constituent of cement) and 15,378 tonnes of cement in 2023. It represents 4,515 direct jobs and 22,000 indirect and induced jobs. It emitted 10 Mt/year of CO2 in 2015.

" Combustion accounts for around a third of our emissions. Generally speaking, decarbonisation is a key issue for the sector, and we have dedicated a roadmap to this, to be published in 2025", adds Laure Hélard.

She answers…