The Port of Rotterdam's 2.5mn t/yr Porthos carbon capture and storage (CCS) project faces delays to construction because of a ruling by the country's top court, the project developers said.
The venture, between the port and state-owned gas companies EBN and Gasunie, had planned to start storing CO2 under the North Sea from 2024. Its customers are some of the Netherlands' largest emitters — Shell, ExxonMobil, and industrial gas firms Air Liquide and Air Products all signed contracts last year. Air Liquide will use the infrastructure to store carbon captured at its hydrogen plant at Rozenburg.
The Dutch government intended to accelerate construction of Porthos and other projects through partial exemption to EU laws that require companies to assess and report on their nitrogen emissions. This was challenged by Dutch environmental group Mobilization for the Environment (MOB) and upheld by the Netherlands' Council of State.
Mob targeted the nitrogen exemption to delay Porthos, and has broader objections to the award of government subsidy to fossil fuel companies. It said there is a risk that CO2 may not be fully secured underground.
Both sides will now have the chance to make further submissions before the Council of State delivers its final verdict, which is likely to take several months.
"Every hour of delay of Porthos means 300t of CO2 going into the air unnecessarily," said Gasunie's manager of corporate strategy Martien Visser.
The ruling has drawn criticism from groups including the Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE), which argues it is worth temporarily relaxing the nitrogen procedures to get massive clean energy projects built quickly. Blocking the exemption could delay a number of projects including hydrogen storage and transport, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and connections to new offshore windfarms, NVDE said.
"Porthos is now delayed but not offtrack," the Council of State said.
