Rotterdam CCS Network

Project details

Location: Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Proponent: Rotterdam Climate Initiative (a collaboration of the Port of Rotterdam, the City of Rotterdam, Deltalinqs and DCMR Environmental Protection Agency Rijnmond)

Website: www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl/en

The Rotterdam CCS Network is a project of the Rotterdam Climate Initiative (RCI), which has a goal of reducing Rotterdam's carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions to 50 per cent of 1990 levels by 2025. The Rotterdam CCS Network aims to capture and store 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of CO₂ from a variety of sources by 2015, expanding to 20 Mtpa in the 2020-2025 horizon, providing the backbone for low-carbon industrial and economic growth in Rotterdam.

A large number of Rotterdam-based companies show great commitment to joining forces in order to realize CCS in Rotterdam and to contribute to the Rotterdam CCS Network. The following projects are currently in progress: ROAD, Air Products, GreenHydrogen (Air Liquide), Pegasus, Shell (Botlek refinery), Liquid Logistics Shipping Concept, GDF Suez, Maersk, TAQA and OCAP (Organic Carbon dioxide for Assimilation of Plants). Some of these initiatives involve setting up pilot projects, while others focus on full-scale implementation. Combined, they cover the entire chain of capture, transport, use and storage.

RCI has signed a Letter of Cooperation (LoC) with eleven companies. Their efforts are supported by other stakeholders including local communities, the Dutch and EU governments and other companies in the port of Rotterdam who are interested in implementing CCS at a later stage. A CCS business platform was created to facilitate information exchange and learning in a public-private setting.

The most tangible results include the preparation of the ROAD project, the first large-scale offshore storage demonstration project, the Green Hydrogen (Air Liquide) project and the preparation of a business case for a liquid logistics CO₂ terminal in which Gasunie, Vopak, Anthony Veder and Air liquide join forces.

Focus of support

The Global CCS Institute provided AU$2.2 million in support of an independent assessment of:

• An independent CO₂ Storage Assessment (ISA) for the most promising sites on the Dutch continental shelf in the North Sea, to be undertaken by Deltalinqs through TNO.
• A feasibility study investigating the proposed hub's CO₂ transportation infrastructure, that is CO₂ liquid logistics shipping concept, to be undertaken by Anthony Veder and Vopak.
• A case study to make explicit the history and lessons learnt of the Rotterdam CCS Network Project, to be undertaken by the DCMR Environmental Protection Agency.

Reports and outcomes

Under the funding agreement, knowledge sharing reports will be delivered based on the three sub-activities described above and will cover a wide range of topics including storage site and risk assessments, CO₂ supply chain optimisation studies, SHE analysis, public outreach and historic case studies.

The Institute is participating in the Steering Committee of the Independent Storage Assessment phase 3 program that focuses on the expanded business case for the Rotterdam CCS Network. A targeted report on the economic model that is developed as part of this work will be released on the Institute’s website.

RCI is committed to knowledge sharing, including participation in conferences, panels and workshops.