Industrial gas major Air Liquide has announced its plans to build, own and operate what it’s calling a ‘world-scale’ carbon capture unit at its existing hydrogen production facility in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The company plans to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the process using its Cryocap technology before the captured gas is transported through Porthos – one of Europe’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure.
A joint venture of EBN, Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Porthos will transport CO2 to depleted gas fields in the North Sea, approximately 20 km off the coast, where it will be permanently stored at a depth of three to four kilometres under the seabed.
The project plans to store about 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year for 15 years, totalling around 37 million tonnes.
Commenting on the announcement, Emilie Mouren-Renouard, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee and CEO of the Europe Industries Hub, said, “We are pleased to take another concrete step to contribute to the decarbonisation of one of Europe’s largest industrial basins while participating in the development of Porthos.”
“This new world-scale CO2 capture unit illustrates our expertise and commitment to implementing decarbonisation solutions, both for our customers and our own assets, in line with the Group’s ADVANCE strategic plan to reduce its CO2 emissions by 33% by 2035.”
CCS has been regarded by the Dutch government as an important pillar of its climate policy. By integrating decarbonisation technologies the Rotterdam port industry is expected to ‘soon’ emit about 10% less CO2.
Despite its potential to decarbonise industry, CCS has also been widely criticised for its failings. An IEEFA study released last year outlined the capacity and performance of 13 flagship projects and found that ten of the 13 failed or underperformed against their designed capacities, mostly by large margins.
However, Hans Meeuwsen, director of Porthos, called CO2 storage crucial in achieving the climate goals in the Netherlands. “This investment decision is an important starting point for future developments in CO2 storage in the Netherlands.”
Having declared Porthos a Project of Common Interest, the EU awarded it €102m ($111.6m) in recognition of its importance in 2021.
Air Liquide began operating its first industrial deployment of the Cryocap H2 technology at its installation in Port-Jérôme at its largest French steam methane reforming (SMR) unit.
As one of the four sites in Europe able to produce low-carbon certified hydrogen, Port Jerome has been integrated as a pilot site for the project CertifHy, the first Guarantee of Origin (GO) platform for green and low-carbon hydrogen.
source: gasworld.com