Belgium – Air Liquide, Fluxys Belgium, and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges will receive €144.6 million from the EU Commission as part of the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) investment program. The money will be used to build cooperative CO2 export and transportation facilities on the port platform in Antwerp.

The grant allocation is a significant step toward the ultimate investment choice, which is anticipated in 2023. The “Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub” project is designed as an open-access infrastructure for shipping, liquefaction, and loading CO2 for long-term offshore storage. An intra-port open-access pipeline network will be used to collect and transmit CO2 that is captured on industrial player sites on the Antwerp port platform. A CO2 liquefaction plant, buffer storages, and marine loading facilities for cross-border shipping will all be built as part of a combined liquefaction and export terminal.

Export terminal

The CO2 liquefaction and export terminal will be built and run by a joint venture that Air Liquide and Fluxys seek to establish as part of the project. The joint company will profit from Air Liquide’s experience in CO2 terminalling activities and from Fluxys’ competence in CO2 liquefaction and handling. The CO2 liquefaction facility, which will be the first of its kind in terms of size and design, will be equipped with Air Liquide’s in-house technology. In addition to creating new quay infrastructures for the mooring of CO2 ships, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges set aside a block of land for the terminal in a prime location inside the port.

Initial stage of Antwerp@C

The project is the first stage of the Antwerp@C initiative, a grouping of companies with the goal of halving CO2 emissions in the Antwerp port region by 2030, including Air Liquide, BASF, Borealis, ExxonMobil, INEOS, TotalEnergies, Fluxys, and Port of Antwerp-Bruges.

Through their combined CO2 capture and storage (CCS) project “Kairos@C,” Air Liquide and BASF will be the export hub’s launching clients in this initial phase. The initial export capacity of the Antwerp@C CO2 Export Hub will be 2.5 million tonnes per year (Mtpa), with a goal of increasing it to up to 10 Mtpa by 2030. By making scalable and flexible infrastructures available to all industrial participants, it will open the door for upcoming CCS projects in the area.