Terminals invest for the future

SUM OF THE PORTS

NEW ENERGIES • STORAGE TERMINALS WILL HAVE A VITAL ROLE TO PLAY IN ENABLING THE ENERGY TRANSITION. WORKING WITH OTHER PARTNERS, MANY ARE ALREADY MAKING GREAT STRIDES

THE PATH TOWARDS carbon-neutral and, ultimately, zero-carbon industrial and transport activity is not long: authorities around the world have responded to the UN’s call for sustainable development by establishing ambitious targets for the phasing out of traditional fuels. The first set of targets will be here by the end of the decade, so things will have to move fast.

The current global network of bulk liquids storage terminals relies for much of its business on hydrocarbons – crude oil and oil products, petrochemicals and gases derived from petroleum sources. The energy transition, therefore, presents a threat to their operations, as they form a pivotal part of a supply chain that has developed over decades to serve the needs of producers, traders, importers and consumers.

It is, though, becoming apparent that future energy supply chains will not be that different from those industry is already accustomed to. Energy will flow around the world by ship and pipeline in much the same way it does now, except the products involved will be new. In fact, not even new – the coming decade is likely to see more ‘drop-in’ alternatives that mirror current fuels, only being produced from renewable sources, or ‘e-fuels’ that have the same chemical and physical properties. Products such as bio-LNG, or biodiesel with an incrementally larger component of FAME will be handled in the same terminals in much the same way as their current traditional brethren.

Further ahead, the process of decarbonisation will lead to a new generation of fuels. If the carbon is taken out of hydrocarbons, what is left is largely hydrogen – and green hydrogen looks most likely to be the core element of post-hydrocarbon fuel technology. While there have been some trials involving the movement of green hydrogen by sea over long distances, it is difficult to scale up; with a boiling point of -253°C, liquefying hydrogen is expensive and shipboard technology will be costly.

A more workable solution will be to use a ‘carrier’ to move green hydrogen, either by converting it to ammonia, which is a relatively simple process, or by using a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC), a liquid product that can bind with the hydrogen and be moved to where that hydrogen can be released.

LOHCs – there are several candidates – behave much like other chemical products, something that storage terminals will be able to work with fairly easily, and many terminals already handle ammonia in bulk. And terminals that are currently handling the import of hydrocarbon products for use by industry and in the transport sector have another advantage: they are already in the right place to handle imports of new fuels, since the market will be the same.

GREEN INTO ROTTERDAM Over the past couple of years, HCB has reported extensively on how terminal operators, the shipping industry and port authorities have been facing up to the decarbonisation process. That process is accelerating and several new projects and ideas have come forward in recent months. This article provides an overview of some that give an indication of the way thinking is heading and how, inevitably, large-scale projects are going to involve the participation of a wide range of interests.

As such, and especially in northern Europe, it is the port authorities that are often taking a leading role. The Port of Rotterdam, for example, is heading an initiative, backed by 18 companies, to study the possible establishment of a large-scale ammonia cracker; the project envisages using green ammonia imported into Rotterdam to produce 1m tonnes of hydrogen per year to help decarbonise regional industry and transport systems.

“Europe will need large amounts of hydrogen to reach its climate objectives and a significant share of this can be imported via the port of Rotterdam,” says Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

“Ammonia is one of the most efficient ways to transport hydrogen and by establishing one central ammonia cracker, we can save time, space and resources to enable the imports of a million tons of hydrogen per year.”

In addition to the Port of Rotterdam Authority, the initiative also includes the participation of Air Liquide, Aramco, BP, Essent/E.ON, ExxonMobil, Gasunie, GES, Linde, OCI, RWE, Shell, Sasol and Uniper, as well as terminal operators HES International, Koole Terminals, Vopak and VTTI. The pre-feasibility study will look into the technical, economic, environmental and safety requirements of a large cracking facility. First results of the study, to be carried out by Fluor, are expected in early 2023.

CARRIER CALLING The Port of Rotterdam is also taking part in the LOHC for Hydrogen Transport from Scotland (LHyTS) project, which is seeking to develop a supply chain for LOHC in the form of methylcyclohexane (MCH) and prove that it can be successfully transport by sea at scale. The project is being led by the Net Zero Technology Centre and ERM.

“The main challenge in exporting hydrogen is choosing the best means of transportation,” says Hayleigh Barnett, project manager at the Net Zero Technology Centre. “Early stage studies in this project have concluded that LOHC has several advantages over other carrier forms, such as ammonia, methanol or liquid hydrogen. Conducting an industrial scale trial is an exciting step in making LOHC export a reality.”

LHyTS will bring together the expertise of a range of participants, including Axens, Chiyoda, EnQuest, authorities in Scotland and, once again, terminal operator Koole Terminals. It fits with the Scottish government’s Hydrogen Policy Statement, which aims to deliver 5 GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030 and 25 GW by 2050. The Port of Rotterdam will assist with its extensive export, import and storage infrastructure, established energy supply chain and pipeline connections to other industrial clusters in north-west Europe.

“Scotland is extremely fit for the production of green hydrogen, because of its abundance of wind and the demand at the continent nearby. On top of that, the area is one of the heartlands of the oil and energy sector. That ecosystem of knowledge, infrastructure and companies will help to kickstart the hydrogen economy,” observes René van de Plas, international director at the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

The Port of Amsterdam has also set up a project to develop an LOHC import facility, in collaboration with Hydrogenious and terminal operator Evos (HCB December 2022, page 14); this will use thermal oil benzyl toluene as the carrier, which can be handled in existing infrastructure at ambient temperature. The three partners are all founding members of the H2A platform, which focuses on the development of supply chains for green hydrogen imports through the port of Amsterdam.

“We are very excited about this next step,” says Ramon Ernst, managing director of Evos Amsterdam.”We have been building and supporting the H2A platform from the beginning, working with our partners on green hydrogen imports via the port of Amsterdam. We see a promising future in LOHC technology as it is intrinsically safe and fits with the port’s existing logistic infrastructure. We operate two large tank terminals that are perfectly suited for the storage and handling of LOHC.”

FURTHER AFIELD But it is not just in Europe where projects are moving forward. Vopak Singapore is exploring the expansion of its ammonia storage infrastructure with full import and export capabilities for low carbon power generation and bunker fuels at its Banyan terminal. The Banyan site, with an overall storage capacity close to 1.5m3, is an integrated oil, chemical and gas facility, located on Jurong Island, and already has one 10,000 m3 ammonia tank that supports the local petrochemical sector.

Vopak Singapore has completed a conceptual design for the expansion and is now carrying out a quantitative risk assessment. Rob Boudestijn, managing director of Vopak Terminals Singapore, says: “In line with Singapore’s ambition on net-zero carbon emissions, Vopak can leverage on our proven expertise of safely storing ammonia in Banyan. We have the right expertise and are at the right location to facilitate new supply chains for low carbon ammonia. We do see a strong potential in Singapore that supports the momentum of developing ammonia ready infrastructure ahead of other locations.”

In North America, midstream operator

Tallgrass Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor to collaborate in the development of large-scale, lowcarbon hydrogen and ammonia projects in North America. The partners will assess the production and market potential for hydrogen and ammonia, and associated distribution infrastructure to help facilitate broad decarbonisation.

Recent policy developments further confirm the US commitment to decarbonised energy projects and reflect the important role that a full-scale hydrogen economy could play in providing communities with clean and reliable energy, Tallgass points out. Equinor and Tallgrass will work together towards advancing the integration of low- or zerocarbon hydrogen and ammonia into regional clean energy clusters, while taking a holistic approach to full value-chain emissions and resource conservation.

THE ENERGY TRANSITION IS COMING BUT THE STORAGE

TERMINAL OF TOMORROW MAY NOT LOOK VERY

DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF TODAY, ON THE OUTSIDE

AT LEAST

“The joint initiative with Tallgrass to launch plans for a large-scale clean ammonia value chain in the US is fully in line with the roadmap of making Equinor carbon-neutral by 2050. It builds on complementary experience in both companies and the common aspiration to take a leading role in the global energy transition,” says Grete Tveit, senior vicepresident for Low Carbon Solutions in Equinor.

COUNTING CARBON Terminal operators also have to look to themselves to ensure they are meeting their own obligations to reduce CO2 emissions. With so many initiatives under development, it is not always easy to assess the overall impact, which is why Deloitte has developed its Decarbonisation Solution tool. Stolthaven Terminals is an early adopter, and is now using the AI-based tool to support and track its decarbonisation projects.

“Stolthaven Terminals has implemented a range of projects to help us achieve our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2040,” says Guy Bessant, president of Stolthaven Terminals. “This includes investments at our terminals to reduce energy consumption for steam production, installing condensate recovery systems, economisers on our boilers that will reduce energy requirements by around 10 per cent, and partnering on projects that advance the green-energy transition. Deloitte’s tool gave us insights into the cumulative impact of these investments, both on emissions reduction as well as on current and future costs, of the different options to help us achieve our ambition.”

Deloitte’s Decarbonisation Solution helps organisations to manage their decarbonisation commitments by establishing emissions targets, meeting reporting and compliance requirements, optimising portfolios, evaluating reduction opportunities and tracking risks. It also allows all stakeholders to engage in the organisation’s decarbonisation journey on a single platform, enabling decarbonisation targets and claims to be substantiated.

“Going forward, the outputs from Deloitte’s tool can help Stolthaven Terminals in strategic decision-making based on the latest scientific information and methodologies from leading bodies and visualise the greatest climaterelated risks and opportunities facing its business,” explains Priti Hoffmann, partner sustainability at Deloitte. “Most importantly, the tool will help them understand where to focus their decarbonisation efforts.”