Heidelberg opens Brevik carbon capture plant and starts selling captured-carbon cement

BREVIK, Norway, June 18, 2025 — Heidelberg Materials inaugurated a carbon capture and storage facility at its Brevik cement plant, which it calls the cement industry's first at industrial scale, and four months later began delivering cement made with it. Here's what happened, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Oct. 17, 2025)

Outcome: Brevik CCS "will capture around 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year, representing 50% of the plant's emissions," the company said at the opening. On Oct. 17 it said deliveries of evoZero, its carbon-captured cement, had begun across Europe. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025; Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)
Cost: Neither the facility's cost nor evoZero's price appears in either release.
Verification: The company says DNV Business Assurance Germany independently assures clinker production under capture and the verification of stored CO₂. (Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)

The opening

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway unveiled a plaque at the Brevik plant before more than 320 guests, including Energy Minister Terje Aasland and Dominik von Achten, chairman of Heidelberg Materials' managing board, the company said. Heidelberg, which says it operates in around 50 countries with about 51,000 employees, likens the planned annual capture to the per-passenger emissions of roughly 150,000 round-trip flights between Frankfurt and New York. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025)

The facility is part of Norway's Longship project, which Heidelberg describes as Europe's first full-scale value chain for capturing, transporting and storing carbon from hard-to-abate industries. Northern Lights, a collaboration of Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies, handles transport and storage: CO₂ captured at Brevik is liquefied, shipped to an onshore terminal on Norway's west coast and piped to permanent storage under the North Sea. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025)

At the June opening the first CO₂ had been captured, liquefied and temporarily stored, with injection into the subsea reservoirs scheduled to begin in August, according to the company. It said the build took more than 1.2 million hours of work by up to 400 employees and partners, and that 30 newly trained employees operate the capture unit, which was integrated without disrupting cement production. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025)

"Supplying net-zero concrete is no longer a future ambition but a reality," von Achten said. Aasland called it "a powerful example of how businesses and government can work hand in hand." Giv Brantenberg, general manager of Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe, said thousands of people have already visited, and the company calls Brevik the first in a growing portfolio of its carbon capture projects. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025)

First deliveries

In October Heidelberg said "the entire process chain is now established." Among the first customers were Skanska, building the new Skøyen Station in Oslo, which the company describes as 45 metres underground with two tracks, and DREIHAUS, a project developing three 3D-printed houses in Heidelberg, Germany. (Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)

Data on permanently stored CO₂ is recorded in the company's proprietary Carbon Bank, the release says. Katharina Beumelburg, Chief Sustainability & New Technologies Officer, said DNV's assurance offers "a new level of transparency and reliability." Board member Jon Morrish said customers can "turn sustainability into a real competitive advantage." (Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)

What went wrong

Half, not all. By the company's own figure, the unit is set to capture 50% of the plant's emissions, so the plant still emits the other half. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025; Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)
Two descriptions of the product. In June the company called evoZero cement "enabling net-zero concrete"; in October it called it "near-zero." The releases don't explain how the remaining emissions are accounted for. (Heidelberg Materials, June 18, 2025; Heidelberg Materials, Oct. 17, 2025)
No price. Neither release gives the facility's cost, public support under Longship, or what evoZero costs compared with ordinary cement.
What we don't know yet: how much CO₂ Brevik has actually captured and stored since injection was due to start, as measured, not designed.

Our follow-up question for Heidelberg Materials

How many tonnes of CO₂ has Brevik captured and injected to date, and what premium does evoZero carry?

Sources

Heidelberg Materials, “World premiere at Heidelberg Materials: Opening of CCS facility in Norway marks new era of sustainable construction,” June 18, 2025. heidelbergmaterials.com
Heidelberg Materials, “evoZero® hits the market: World's first carbon captured cement delivered to customers across Europe,” Oct. 17, 2025. heidelbergmaterials.com

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