FAQ

Porthos offers companies the opportunity to reduce their CO₂ emissions in the period when alternative, sustainable techniques are not yet sufficiently developed. This enables companies to contribute to the Netherlands’ climate objectives and to the energy transition

CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) is a relatively cheap measure that can already significantly reduce CO₂ emissions in the short term. The long-term goal remains the sustainability of industrial production processes.

The onshore pipeline will be located in the existing pipeline strip along the A15, via Botlek-Vondelingenplaat to the Maasvlakte. The onshore pipeline is about 30 kilometres long.

Via a compressor station, a pipeline then goes under the North Sea bed to a platform about 20 kilometres off the coast. From there, the CO2 goes to empty (depleted) gas fields over three kilometres below the North Sea bed.

From the platform, CO₂ will be permanently stored in empty (depleted) gas fields three to four kilometres below the North Sea floor. Porthos focuses on storing CO₂ in the empty gas fields P18-2, P18-4 and P18-6.

TAQA has extracted gas from these fields and the fields are available for storage. From the existing platform of P18A, operated by TAQA, Porthos will inject the CO₂ into the empty gas field.

The final investment decision for Porthos was made in October 2023. Construction of the Porthos infrastructure started in early 2024. The system is expected to be operational during 2026.

In December 2021, Air Liquide, Air Products, ExxonMobil and Shell signed final contracts with Porthos for transport and storage of CO₂. These parties are located close to each other in the port of Rotterdam, which offers infrastructure advantages.

Together, the companies will capture and deliver 2.5 million tonnes of CO₂ annually from their Rotterdam plants to the Porthos infrastructure from 2026. Over a period of 15 years, this will total around 37 million tonnes, which will remain permanently stored under the North Sea.

Click here for more information about the commercial process.

Porthos receives financial support for the costs incurred in the preparation of the project and for the investment in the infrastructure. For the preparatory studies, Porthos received €1.2 million sub-subsidy from RVO in 2018 and €6.5 million subsidy from the European Commission in 2019. For the realisation of the infrastructure, Porthos received a €102 million grant from Brussels in 2021.

In spring 2021, Porthos’ customers were awarded SDE++ subsidy. They receive the subsidy to bridge any difference between the cost of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the total cost of capture, transport and storage. Because of the ETS system, it is expected that, in time, more and more will have to be paid for CO₂ emissions. With this, it is very likely that our customers will receive much less, or perhaps no subsidy at all.

With this scheme, companies can contribute to achieving the Dutch Climate Agreement objectives while remaining competitive.

Elsewhere in the world, experience with CCS has been around for more than 30 years. What makes Porthos particularly special is that it is one of the first CCS projects to focus on the permanent storage of CO₂ from multiple companies, using an open access approach. The system is set up as a kind of utility infrastructure that can also be used by different companies.

Unlike the ROAD project (Rotterdam Storage and Capture Demonstration Project), Porthos focuses on industry for which there are no sustainable alternatives for the time being. Another important difference is that in the Porthos project, storage is not on land under existing construction, but under the North Sea.