The CO2next project has achieved a major milestone by entering a new project phase. CO2next aims to build a liquid CO2 terminal at the Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam, which can be used by customers not connected to a CO2 pipeline to ship liquid CO2. Therefore, the terminal will be a critical piece of CO2 infrastructure that can be leveraged as part of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) chain.
The technical feasibility and development of such a CCS chain are being jointly explored with the Aramis CCS project, to which the terminal will be connected. CO2next is pleased to announce that it is entering the so-called Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase and has awarded its FEED contract to the engineering and technology group Sener.
During the FEED phase, the design, the realization schedule, and the cost of the proposed CO2next terminal will be further defined. The relevant permits can be received, and customers will be contracted in preparation for the Final Investment Decision (FID) currently planned for 2025.
With the CO2next project, the project partners aim to build an open-access liquid CO2 terminal at the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam with jetties foreseen in the Yangtze Canal. The terminal will be able to receive and deliver liquid CO2 via vessels and will be connected to depleted gas fields in the North Sea via the Aramis trunkline for storage. It can also be leveraged as a part of other CCS chains and a potential future Carbon Utilisation Industry.
CO2 infrastructure, as foreseen with the proposed CO2next terminal, is critical in the context of the Dutch climate agreement and the European Green Deal. The CO2next terminal also contributes to the infrastructure and facilitates CO2 reduction for the industry in Northwest Europe and a CO2-neutral port in Rotterdam by 2050.
Potential customers for the CO2next terminal were approached in 2022, leading to several customers keen to leverage the open-access terminal for their decarbonization needs. The terminal has a launch capacity of approximately 5.4 Mtpa (Million tonnes per annum), with the potential to grow its capacity to approximately 15 Mtpa, depending on market demand and the development of the Aramis project and other CCS chains.
Following the FID planned for 2025, subject to permits being granted by relevant authorities, the CO2next terminal is currently foreseen to commence commercial operations in 2028. Shell and TotalEnergies have joined the development of the CO2next project, which to date was led by Gasunie and Vopak. The CO2next project is subject to customary competition clearance, which the project partners will perform before the FID in due course.
Fulco van Geuns, Project Director CO2next, stated “We are pleased to see the CO2next project firming up. Carbon Capture and Storage is recognized as required to enable the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries, and we see a clear role for such a liquid CO2 terminal in the European CO2 infrastructure. The same infrastructure may also be required to enable a Carbon Utilisation industry in the future. We welcome Shell and TotalEnergies to the partnership and are looking forward to jointly delivering this project.”
About CO2next
Gasunie, Vopak, Shell, and TotalEnergies are investigating the development of CO2next, an open-access terminal for liquid CO2 on the Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam. Such infrastructure is important in the context of the Dutch climate agreement and the European Green Deal. The independent hub terminal will be able to receive and deliver liquid CO2 via ships (potentially railcars in the future) and will be connected to the depleted gas fields in the North Sea, offering transport for substantial volumes of CO2 in the near future. This open-access system will make the necessary infrastructure available to all market parties, including those that do not have a direct connection to a CO2 pipeline. Additionally, this planned terminal can be an important catalyst in the creation of a market for the reuse of CO2 as a raw material.
Source Vopak