Heidelberg Materials puts German carbon capture project on hold

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Heidelberg Materials HEIG.DE, one of the world's largest cement makers, has paused its carbon capture plant project in Geseke, Germany, because the current framework conditions do not support a viable business case, it said on Thursday.

• GeZero was planned as Germany's first inland cement plant that would deploy scalable carbon capture technology

• "As a listed company, we will only pursue CO2 capture if we have a stable, sound business case for it. We do not yet have that in Geseke," CEO Dominik von Achten told Reuters, adding putting the project on hold had been a "tough but right decision"

• The decision applies only to the GeZero project - which has received €191 million ($214 million) in EU funding - and will have no immediate impact on operations at the company's Geseke plant

• It cited insufficiently developed CO2 transport, storage infrastructure and value chains as reasons for the halt

• Heidelberg Materials plans to further optimize the design of the project

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