Study assesses Dutch North Sea carbon capture prices

Xodus Group has completed a review into tariffs for a carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in the Netherlands.

The review, commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, analysed proposed fees for transport and storage related to the Porthos project, which proposes transporting CO₂ generated by industry in the Port of Rotterdam to disused gas fields beneath the North Sea.

Porthos is a joint venture between the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Gasunie, and EBN.

The Netherlands’s government has set a target of reducing the country’s greenhouse gases by 49% in 2030 and 95% in 2050, compared with 1990 values.

The CO₂ that Porthos will transport and store will be captured from various companies.

Shell, ExxonMobil, Air Liquide and Air Products have agreed to supply their CO₂ to a collective pipeline running through the Rotterdam port area before pressurization in a compressor station.

The CO₂ will be transported onwards through an offshore pipeline to a platform in the North Sea, 20 km (12.4 miles) offshore, where it will be pumped into an empty gas field more than 3 km (1.86 miles) subsurface.

In its early years, around 2.5 MM metric tons/yr of CO₂ (2.75 MM tons) could be stored, with operations starting by 2024.

Xodus’ study involved a benchmarking analysis, comparing Porthos to other planned CCUS developments elsewhere. The company also recreated the Porthos design in its cost estimating software and database to deliver an independent tariff estimate and range.

According to the company, these two approaches resulted in similar best estimates for transport and storage of around €50 per tonne, close to figures calculated by the Porthos partners.

Source: Offshore Magazine