Netherlands’ Porthos carbon storage project secures subsidies

The consortium comprises Air Liquide, Air Products, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell.

Expected to be one of the largest of its kind in the world upon completion, the Porthos carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) project aims to store 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually from the industry in empty gas fields beneath the North Sea.

The approval follows the registration for a total of €2bn by the consortium from the sustainable energy transition subsidy scheme (SDE++) as part of the Porthos project, earlier this year.

The project is being developed by a joint venture between three state-owned companies, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), Gasunie, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

In 2019, ExxonMobil, Shell, Air Liquide and Air Products signed an agreement to undertake preparatory works for capturing and transporting the CO2 from their refineries and hydrogen-producing facilities at Rotterdam, as part of the Porthos CCUS project.

Planned to be commissioned in 2024, the project will capture, transport, and store the CO2 produced from refineries, chemical, and hydrogen plants in the Port of Rotterdam area, which accounts for approximately 16% of the country’s total CO2 emissions.

The subsidies are intended to help the firms involved in the project compensate for the additional costs required to capture greenhouse gasses, reported Reuters.

The necessary infrastructure will be provided by the port to transport the captured CO2 to the empty offshore gas fields.