CEMEX INVESTS IN PIONEER SOLAR TECHNOLOGY

• CEMEX Ventures joins a select group of leading global investors supporting Synhelion.
• Since 2020, CEMEX and Synhelion began developing an innovative solar-driven technology that aims to eliminate fossil fuels and the carbon footprint in the clinker manufacturing process.

MONTERREY, MEXICO – CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (“CEMEX”) and CEMEX Ventures (CEMEX´s venture capital unit) announced  their investment in Synhelion, a pioneer company in solar fuels that are a climate-friendly substitute to fossil fuels, enabling a carbon-free manufacturing process.

This effort, which aims to decarbonize the cement manufacturing process based on solar energy, is part of CEMEX’s roadmap to achieve its ambitious climate action goals, including delivering globally carbon free concrete by 2050. This is one of several initiatives under the company’s Future in Action program, which focuses on reducing the carbon footprint of its operations and products to become a net-zero CO2 company.

Based in Switzerland, Synhelion offers a radically new approach to replace fossil fuels in cement plants with high-temperature solar heat and captures 100% of carbon emissions. The captured emissions are then used as feedstock for fuel production, enabling cement manufacturing to achieve net-zero emissions. This is made possible by the extremely high temperature of solar heat provided by Synhelion’s technology and its pioneering process to turn CO2 into synthetic drop-in fuels, such as kerosene, diesel, and gasoline.

“Synhelion’s technology has enormous potential; not only does it close the fuel carbon cycle, but it also facilitates a carbon-free cement industry. This investment is one more of the great joint activities we manage with the most innovative projects and technologies to decarbonize the industry,” expressed Gonzalo Galindo, Head of CEMEX Ventures.

The investment is part of a funding round led by Swiss KMU Partners, with major backing from Orchilla, and SMS Concast, part of the SMS group, with additional support from CEMEX Ventures, AMAG, and private investors. Synhelion will use the funding to build and operate what should be the world’s first plant capable of producing solar fuels at an industrial scale.