Air Products to build carbon capture facility at existing hydrogen plant in Rotterdam

Industrial gas supplier Air Products has revealed plans to build, own, and operate a carbon capture and CO2 treatment facility at its existing hydrogen production plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The company aims to bring the facility on stream in 2025, with the resulting blue hydrogen product to serve ExxonMobil’s (Esso) Rotterdam refinery and additional customers via its hydrogen pipeline network system.

According to Air Products, this will be the largest blue hydrogen plant in Europe once operational.

As explained, 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.

The Porthos project is the first large-scale CO2 transport and storage system in the Netherlands which recently reached final investment decision approval. It was designed to transport CO2 captured from industry in the port of Rotterdam to depleted gas fields in the North Sea, approximately 20 kilometers off the coast, where it will be permanently stored at a depth of more than 3 kilometers beneath the seabed.

“Porthos allows Air Products to more than halve its CO2 emissions in the port of Rotterdam. This represents a substantial step for reducing Air Products’ direct emissions in the short term and contributes to meeting the Dutch National Climate Agreement targets. At the same time, Air Products is working hard to further decarbonize its own activities and those of its customers by realizing plans to make green hydrogen available from imported renewable energy in the port of Rotterdam,” the company said.

Air Products further noted that the project is being undertaken as part of long-term agreements with ExxonMobil and the Dutch State.

“Air Products has been actively present and investing in Rotterdam for decades,” commented Chief Operating Officer Samir J. Serhan. “Industrial companies here are continually looking for ways to realize synergies, create economies of scale, drive energy efficiencies and ultimately decarbonize. This project fulfils that demand. By sequestering CO2 through Porthos and bringing additional blue hydrogen to ExxonMobil and other customers, we can help generate a cleaner future.”

“ExxonMobil aims to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from its operated assets by 2050 and we’ve taken a comprehensive approach to create emission-reduction roadmaps for each of our facilities,” said Edward Dekker Kleijn, Rotterdam Site Manager.

“We are pleased to build on our collaboration with Air Products to lower our environmental footprint. Carbon Capture and Storage is one of the critical technologies required to achieve the climate goals. This project is a great example of how industry works together to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the Rotterdam port area.”