Belgian energy infrastructure group Fluxys, steel and mining company ArcelorMittal Belgium and North Sea Port have started a feasibility study for the Ghent Carbon Hub project, an open-access CO2 storage and liquefaction hub in the Ghent part of North Sea Port.
Besides the use of carbon-neutral energy , carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is essential for CO2-intensive industries to achieve net zero emissions , especially in hard-to-abate sectors with processes inherently generating CO2 emissions.
The three partners are pressing ahead to develop a key infrastructure accommodating the CCUS chain.
Ghent Carbon Hub is set up as an open-access hub to transport and liquefy CO 2 from emitters, provide buffer storage and load the liquefied CO 2 onto ships for onward permanent storage.
The feasibility study has now started and commissioning is targeted for 2027. Ghent Carbon Hub will have a capacity to process 6 million tonnes of CO 2 per annum (MTPA), equivalent to around 15% of Belgian industrial CO 2 emissions.
As explained, the project will benefit from Fluxys’ experience in terminalling activities, while Fluxys is also developing an open-access CO 2 transmission backbone in Belgium. Ghent Carbon Hub connects to Fluxys’ CO 2 backbone, allowing CO 2 emitters from the North Sea Port area and other industrial clusters to transport their captured CO 2 to the hub or locations of reuse.
“Together with our partners, we offer strong and complementary know-how and expertise for providing reliable and efficient decarbonisation solutions, essential for achieving climate change objectives and ensuring the long-term viability of the economy. Ghent Carbon Hub is an integral part of the full-scale Fluxys CO 2 approach, offering emitters in North Sea Port and the wider area the opportunity to convey their captured CO 2 through our backbone ,” Pascal De Buck , CEO Fluxys, commented.
“We aim to reduce our CO 2 emissions by 35% by 2030 compared to 2018, and to become climate neutral by 2050. The combination of a new Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant alongside a sustainable … blast furnace enables the creation of unique synergies in ArcelorMittal Belgium’s roadmap to climate-neutral steelmaking. But we are also focusing on other decarbonisation initiatives, such as CCS, where we capture the CO 2 and transport it to a CO 2 hub within North Sea Port for storage ,” Manfred Van Vlierberghe , CEO ArcelorMittal Belgium, said.
“North Sea Port has the ambition to halve CO 2 emissions by 2030 and to be a carbon-neutral port by 2050. Total CO 2 emissions in the port are 21.5 million tons. As a first step, the capture and storage of CO 2 (Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)) will have to be increased ,” Daan Schalck , CEO North Sea Port, explained.
“ Technological developments will be key to the reuse of CO 2 over time (Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)). The capture and storage of CO 2 is a necessary intermediate step towards its large-scale reuse. To this end, North Sea Port is fully engaged to facilitate this CO 2 infrastructure project to make it happen.”