Antwerp to be CO2 export hub

The project will be among the first and largest multimodal open access CO₂ export facilities in the world, and 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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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.