Port of Rotterdam CCUS project set to proceed

The CCUS project, the Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transport Hub and Offshore Storage project (Porthos) is being developed by a consortium including Energy Beheer Nederland, Gasunie and the Port of Rotterdam. The project is intended to store an annual amount of 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 from industry in empty gas fields beneath the North Sea from 2024.

The project is not expected to create local demand for seaborne CO2 transportation, as the project envisages the transportation of CO2 by pipeline to offshore storage wells, while the CO2 emissions are expected to be supplied by local heavy industrial manufacturers located within the Rotterdam area. 

However, the development of local CCUS supply chains form an integral part of the Netherlands’ decarbononisation strategy. The Motorship has previously reported on an innovative net-zero synthetic LNG project that is being developed by Antony Veder, Heerema Shell.

The LNG-ZERO project is intended to accelerate the development of an innovative circular economy approach using recycling CO2 captured on board LNG-fuelled vessels to produce synthetic LNG using electricity from renewable energy sources (such as offshore wind). The project has an EUR6.1 million budget, to which the Dutch government has contributed EUR4.4 million.

The project is also intended to develop technologies to significantly reduce methane slip (CH4) and NOx emissions from LNG-fuelled vessels and will also examine potential integration with carbon capture use and storage (CCUS).