Port of Antwerp-Bruges announced that the EU Commission would grant it, along with Air Liquide and Fluxys Belgium, €144.6 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) funding program.
The funding is earmarked for the construction of shared CO2 transport and export facilities on the Antwerp port platform.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges noted that the grant award is a "major step" towards the final investment decision, expected in 2023.
"The project, named 'Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub,' is set up as an open-access infrastructure to transport, liquefy and load CO2 onto ships for onward permanent offshore storage," it said, noting that 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 also be built, including a CO2 liquefaction unit, buffer storage and marine loading facilities for cross-border shipping.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges said this innovative project would 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 port said, adding that 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 noted that it reserved a plot of land for the terminal in a strategic location inside the port and will build new quay infrastructures for the mooring of CO2 ships.
Cutting CO2 emissions at the Antwerp port area
The project is the first phase of Antwerp@C, an initiative gathering Air Liquide, BASF, Borealis, ExxonMobil, INEOS, TotalEnergies, Fluxys and Port of Antwerp-Bruges with the ambition to halve the CO2 emissions in the Antwerp port area by 2030.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges said in this first phase, Air Liquide and BASF will be the launching customers of the export hub through their joint CO2 capture and storage (CCS) project 'Kairos@C'.
The Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub will have an initial export capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), with the ambition to reach up to 10 Mtpa by 2030. It will pave the way for future CCS initiatives in the region by providing scalable and modular infrastructures accessible to all industrial players.
"We are pleased that the Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub project, supported by innovative Air Liquide technologies, has been selected by the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy program. Alongside the use of renewable energy, carbon capture technology is essential to achieve short time frame massive CO2 reductions and carbon neutrality objectives, namely for hard-to-abate sectors," said Pascal Vinet, senior vice president and a member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee, supervising notably Europe Industries activities.
Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of Port of Antwerp-Bruges, noted that the port "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."
"The fact that we have been awarded this CEF-E subsidy, which means we can now start building a joint CO2 infrastructure, makes us particularly proud," Vandermeiren added.
"It strengthens us in our conviction that as a port authority, we must continue to fully assume our role as a community builder in order to achieve a climate impact that reaches far beyond the boundaries of the port platform."
