Air Liquide to install CO2 capture unit at hydrogen plant in Rotterdam port

In order to supply decarbonized hydrogen to its long-term customers, Air Liquide has decided to build, own, and operate a carbon capture unit that will be installed at its hydrogen production plant in the port of Rotterdam and will be connected to Porthos, one of Europe’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) infrastructure.

Air Liquide intends to capture the CO2 from its existing hydrogen plant in the Rotterdam port leveraging its proprietary Cryocap, a technological solution for CO2 capture using a cryogenic process.

Captured CO2 will then be transported through the Porthos infrastructure, which is currently being developed, and permanently stored in depleted gas fields in the North Sea, approximately 20 kilometers off the coast.

The carbon capture unit is expected to become operational in 2026, enabling Air Liquide to supply hydrogen that will be significantly decarbonized, the company said.

Emilie Mouren-Renouard, member of Air Liquide’s Executive Committee and CEO of the Europe Industries Hub, commented: “We are pleased to take another concrete step to contribute to the decarbonization of one of Europe’s largest industrial basins while participating to the development of Porthos. This new world-scale CO₂ capture unit illustrates our expertise and commitment to implementing decarbonization solutions, both for our customers and our own assets, in line with the Group’s ADVANCE strategic plan to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 33% by 2035.”

The Porthos infrastructure overall will enable to reduce emissions by 2.5 million tons of CO2 per year, which is equivalent to around 10% of the current Rotterdam industry CO2 emissions. The European Union has recognized Porthos as a major cross-border infrastructure project and included it in the list of Projects of Common Interest.

The Porthos project is a joint venture of EBN, Gasunie, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority that will provide transport and storage services to several companies in the port of Rotterdam, including Air Liquide, Air Products, ExxonMobil, and Shell, which will invest in their own capture installations to supply the CO2.

Much like Air Liquide, Air Products recently revealed plans to install a carbon capture and CO2 treatment facility at its existing hydrogen production plant in Rotterdam.  The carbon capture retrofit will capture CO2 from Air Products’ existing hydrogen plant and ExxonMobil’s Rotterdam refinery and the plant will be connected to the Porthos system.