The EU Commission announced it will grant Air Liquide, Fluxys Belgium and Port of Antwerp-Bruges €144.6 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) funding programme.
The funding is earmarked for the construction of shared CO2 transport and export facilities on the Antwerp port platform. The grant award is a major step towards the final investment decision, expected next year.
The project, named Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub, is set up as an open-access infrastructure to transport, liquefy and load CO2 on to ships for onward permanent offshore storage.
CO2 captured on industrial players sites on the Antwerp port platform will be collected and transported via an intra-port open-access pipeline network.
A shared liquefaction and export terminal will be built, including a CO2 liquefaction unit, buffer storages and marine loading facilities for cross-border shipping. This innovative project will be among the first and largest multimodal open access CO2 export facilities in the world.
As part of the project, Air Liquide and Fluxys intend to form a joint venture for the construction and operation of the CO2 liquefaction and export terminal. The joint venture will benefit from Air Liquide’s expertise in CO2 liquefaction and handling and from Fluxys’ experience in terminalling activities.
Air Liquide will provide its proprietary technology for the CO2 liquefaction plant, which will be a first of a kind in its scale and design. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges reserved a plot of land for the terminal on a strategic location inside the port, and will build new quay infrastructures for the mooring of CO2 ships.
Pascal Vinet, senior vice president and a member of Air Liquide’s executive committee, supervising notably Europe Industries activities, said: “Alongside the use of renewable energy, carbon capture technology is essential to achieve in a short time frame massive CO2 reductions and carbon neutrality objectives namely for hard-to-abate sectors.”
Pascal De Buck, CEO Fluxys, said: “Together with our partners, we offer strong and complementary know-how and expertise for providing reliable and efficient decarbonisation solutions, essential for achieving climate change objectives and ensuring the long-term viability of the economy.”
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO Port of Antwerp-Bruges, said: “Port of Antwerp-Bruges has been committed from the very start in the Antwerp@C project in order to reduce the CO2 emissions on the Antwerp port platform by 50% in 2030.”
Funding for carbon emissions export hub
