GES lays plans for Europoort

MAKING THE CHAIN

RENEWABLES • THE ENERGY TRANSITION IS HAPPENING AND ROTTERDAM IS AIMING TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE. A NEW TERMINAL AND LOGISTICS OPERATOR, GES, IS DOING ITS PART

GLOBAL ENERGY STORAGE (GES) has announced its first investment project since it was established earlier this year. It is buying an interest in the Stargate Terminal at Europoort in Rotterdam from Gunvor and will develop more than 20 ha of land in the heart of the port, with the support of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, to develop a state-ofthe-art bulk liquids terminal specifically to handle low-carbon products. GES will install a new jetty and is planning to become part of the logistics chain that will be required to import ‘blue’ and ‘green’ hydrogen into Rotterdam, as part of the port’s plans, announced earlier, to become a hub for hydrogen import and distribution in northern Europe. It will also handle biofuels, gases, ammonia and other hydrogen carriers.

“Rotterdam is one of the largest ports in the world and the gateway into Europe, so I’m delighted to be able to announce our first deal here,” says Peter Vucins, CEO of GES. “Our vision is to take an existing oil terminal and develop it into a state-of-the-art low-carbon products terminal. This development is the first stage of our plans for an international network of infrastructure, serving the energy transition needs of our customers.”

Gunvor will remain a long-term partner of GES in Rotterdam and plans to update its facility there to supply Dow’s cracker with feedstocks to produce circular plastics. “We’re pleased to be partnering with GES to further support the development of environmentally responsible projects in the port of Rotterdam,” says Shahb Richyal, global head of portfolio at Gunvor Group. “This deal is in line with Gunvor’s strategy to support the advancement of Energy Transition initiatives at our key asset locations.”

QUICK OUT OF THE BLOCKS GES was formed in May this year by Peter Vicuns and Eric Arnold, the management team of Global Petro Storage (GPS), with the aim of focusing on terminal and logistics infrastructure to handle low-carbon commodities, energy transition fuels and, potentially, renewable energy sources. It received backing of up to $250m from Bluewater, whose managing director, Martin Somerville, said at the time: “Peter and Eric are genuine leaders in the sector, and that’s why we’re supporting this new vehicle to build on the continuing success of GPS. GES will allow them to target new markets and opportunities that help deliver new storage solutions for the energy transition.”

The Rotterdam project will benefit from the local industrial cluster as well as its deep water access and excellent connectivity to inland waterways and pipeline infrastructure for the onward distribution of products. “The port is ideally placed for this development, which will bring low-carbon technology to one of the world’s great trading hubs that has taken a leading position in the energy transition with very significant and ambitious developments of its own,” Vucins adds.

GES is only at the beginning of its life and there is plenty more to come, as executive chairman Eric Arnold explains: “This is the first of what we hope will be many deals. We are looking to develop an international network of storage and logistics infrastructure for low-carbon commodities. You can expect to see a rapid expansion across 2021-22.” GES says it will concentrate on key global hubs, international cross-linked business, and long-term relationships with top-tier energy suppliers. www.global-energy-storage.com

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