L'Air Liquide S.A, Fluxys Belgium and Port of Antwerp-Bruges EUR 144.6 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) funding program. The funding is earmarked for the construction of shared CO(2) transport and export facilities on the Antwerp port platform. The grant award is a major step towards the final investment decision, expected in 2023.

The project, named "Antwerp@C CO(2) Export Hub", is set up as an open-access infrastructure to transport, liquefy and load CO(2) onto ships for onward permanent offshore storage. CO(2) captured on industrial players sites on the Antwerp port platform will be collected and transported via an intra-port open-access pipeline network. A shared liquefaction and export terminal will be built, including a CO(2) liquefaction unit, buffer storages and marine loading facilities for cross-border shipping.

This innovative project will be among the first multimodal open access CO(2) export facilities in the world. Export terminal As part of the project, Air Liquide and Fluxys intend to form a joint venture for the construction and operation of the CO(2) liquefaction and export terminal. The joint venture will benefit from Air Liquide's expertise in CO(2) liquefaction and handling and from Fluxys' experience in terminalling activities.

Air Liquide will provide its proprietary technology for the CO(2) liquefaction plant, which will be a first of a kind in its scale and design. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges reserved a plot of land for the terminal on a strategic location inside the port, and will build new quay infrastructures for the mooring of CO(2) ships.