A contract worth $80 million to construct a 405,000-ton per year Calcined Clay Cement Plant in Ghana, the world’s largest calcined clay cement plant, was recently signed by CBI Ghana Ltd., the manufacturer of Supacem Cement.
Developed at the Tema Free Zones Enclave, the facility will utilize new technologies to substitute 20% of the clinker used in cement production with ecologically friendly clay from the West African country. The Calcined Clay Cement plant’s operations will have a major economic impact on Ghana and it will increase the value-for-money of its cement products for clients by partially substituting foreign clinker with Ghanaian clay.
Hundreds of low- and high-skilled job opportunities will be created for Ghanaians during the two-year construction period and the long-term operation of the Calcined Clay Cement plant.
Utilizing calcined clay instead of clinker in cement manufacturing
The utilization of calcined clay instead of clinker in cement manufacture will have significant environmental benefits. Cement manufacture is responsible for approximately 7.5 percent of global CO2 emissions. The use of calcined clay to alleviate the need for traditional, carbon-intensive clinker is a significant step toward reducing cement production’s negative environmental impact.
CBI Ghana Ltd CEO Frédéric Albrecht stated that Ghana is the ideal place to use clay as an ecologically friendly alternative to clinker. He also claimed that due to a lack of adequate limestone sources, West Africa has traditionally been a clinker and a cement-importing region.
Funding for Calcined Clay Cement Plant in Ghana
The Calcined Clay Cement plant at CBI Ghana represents an $80-million investment in the Ghanaian economy and is funded by an international consortium that includes its parent company, F.Scott, Société Générale, IFU, the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries, Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, and EKF Denmark, with equipment supplied by FLSmidth, the global leader in cement manufacturing equipment.
