Power-to-methanol plan in Antwerp

THE POWER OF SEVEN

SUSTAINABILITY • AN ANTWERP-BASED CONSORTIUM IS AIMING TO MAKE METHANOL FROM CAPTURED CARBON DIOXIDE IN A WIN-WIN FOR THE LOCAL CHEMICAL CLUSTER

THE IDEA OF carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been around for a few years now, as a way of reducing the amount of CO² emitted to the atmosphere in order to slow climate change. But as the idea has been investigated, thoughts have turned towards carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), if ways can be found to transform the captured CO² into something valuable.

Last month a seven-strong consortium was formed under the name Power-toMethanol Antwerp, which is aiming to do just that: to take CO² produced at various industrial plants in the port and, with the

INOVYN’S ANTWERP PLANT (ABOVE) WILL BE THE

HOST FOR THE INNOVATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE input of sustainably produced hydrogen, to process it into methanol. The plan is to start work in 2022 on a demonstration plant at the Inovyn site in Antwerp and to produce 8,000 tonnes of methanol per year, saving an equivalent amount of CO² emissions. The methanol produced at the plant will find ready buyers within the chemical cluster of Antwerp, it being an essential raw material in many processes.

“Our future prosperity will be sustainable, or there will be no prosperity,” says port alderman Annick de Ridder. “Innovation is key to tackling climate change. In Flanders we have a tradition of innovative entrepreneurship and as Port of Antwerp we play a pioneering role in serving as a testbed for technological and sustainable innovation. We combine this innovation with our strengths as a multi-industry port platform to promote promising applications such as CCU and hydrogen. In the meantime it gives a strong signal that Port of Antwerp is keeping to its transition agenda.”

DIFFERENT SKILLS The consortium brings together a number of skill sets that will be needed to see the plan to fruition. The partners are power utility Engie, storage terminal operator Oiltanking, Indaver, which has expertise in CO² capture, Fluxys, with its infrastructure experience and specific expertise with regard to the certification of green gases, Vlaamse Milieu Holding, which will provide financing, and the Port of Antwerp, playing a role to bridge the gap between the private companies involved and the Belgian government. As well as hosting the project at its plant, Ineos subsidiary Inovyn will contributes to the project with the supply of hydrogen along with its chemical and electrolysis expertise.

“The formal continuation of the ‘power-tomethanol’ project in the Port of Antwerp confirms the conviction of this group of cross-industrial players to pursue our cooperation,” a statement from the consortium says. “The project shows in a very practical and innovative way the importance of industrial symbiosis as part of the energy transition pathway. The different partners have the ambition to advance the energy transition and to strengthen their presence in the Port of Antwerp not only for the business of today but also for that of tomorrow.”

“Innovation is essential for the transition to a sustainable, circular economy. But collaboration is also crucial. The consortium demonstrates that by combining the knowhow and expertise of different partners we can get a whole lot moving,” adds Hilde Crevits, the Flemish minister for the Economy, Innovation, Employment, Social Economy and Agriculture. “In this way we are putting Flanders on the map as a region that is going ahead fully with alternative sources of energy.” www.portofantwerp.com