Antwerp a hub for innovation

IN CHARGE OF CHANGE

PORTS • ANTWERP IS PLAYING A MAJOR ROLE IN FOSTERING INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO REDUCE THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF ACTIVITIES WITHIN ITS BOUNDARY

IN A WORLD that has been turned upside down over the past year, all those involved in the chemical logistics chain have had to pedal harder than ever to keep up with rapid fluctuations in the pattern and level of demand for their services. Last month’s EPCA Annual Meeting gave the opportunity, if only virtually, for the whole European community to take a breather, reflect on how they had coped and try to peer into an uncertain future with other fundamental disruptions already on their way. And, while it was impossible to gather in the hotels and bars of Budapest, many took the opportunity to reconnect online. Among them was Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO of the Port of Antwerp, who offered his views of the next stage of development for the sector and how the port is planning to play a part to help and support its chemical cluster and the logistics service providers that keep it running.

The last six months have presented immense challenges but the Port of Antwerp has been successful in limiting the damage; “we are holding up well,” Vandermeiren said. This is in no small part due to the importance of the chemical and polymer trade, which accounts for around one quarter of containerised throughput. It is also testament to the power of networks and, he added, gatherings such as the EPCA Annual Meeting, even in an online version, are crucial if the sector is to move forward.

TAKE THE LONG VIEW However, Vandermeiren said it is necessary not to focus solely on short-term impacts and their solutions; industry must keep alert to long-term disruptive factors – many of which were discussed during the presentations and panel sessions at the EPCA Annual Meeting: the need for greater sustainability in all industrial and logistics operations; the need to address climate change; and the growing importance of a move towards a circular economy.

Ports have an important role to play in the response to climate change and the Port of Antwerp is actively supporting its chemical cluster in its move towards a carbon-neutral and circular economy, Vandermeiren said. That is why, together with its industrial tenants, the port is working to reduce CO² emissions and transform itself into a carbon-neutral port, by means of ambitious transitional projects.

“Sustainable shipping, sustainable energy and sustainable industry – these are areas in which the Port of Antwerp has already taken big steps and will continue to do so,” Vandermeiren said. The port authority is teaming up with business front-runners to realise very ambitious ‘lighthouse’ projects in areas such as green hydrogen, carbon capture and use (CCU), the circular economy, waste heat and alternative shipping fuels.

SUSTAINABILITY IN PRACTICE Vandermeiren gave some examples of those projects, such as the power-to-methanol plant being built at the Inovyn site; construction is due to start in 2022, he revealed, noting that this demonstration plant involves a consortium of seven players, including the port authority. The plant is projected to produce 8,000 tonnes of sustainable methanol annually, using captured CO² and sustainably generated hydrogen, avoiding an equivalent volume of CO² emissions. The project is, he said, “an absolute scoop for Belgium”.

Another consortium, involving seven leading chemical and energy companies, is involved in an ambitious plan to halve CO² emissions from the port by 2030. The Antwerp@C project aims to capture and/or use CO² generated within the port, in order to keep it out of the atmosphere – and it is aiming to do this within a short time span and at a reasonable cost.

The project has now received support from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF)

grant scheme and consortium partners are preparing to apply for further support from the European Innovation Fund. “With Antwerp@C, the port of Antwerp has the key to realise an innovative cross-border CCUS-project, a first of a kind in its concept and scale,” Vandermeiren says. “We are proud to receive the necessary financial support for the study phase, as this project will contribute to the Flemish, Belgian and European climate goals.”

Projects such as these demonstrate that collaboration is key in creating a cluster and in generating operational added value. “If this shared infrastructure can be realised, it will be the first of a kind and benefit the entire industrial sector in the port,” Vandermeiren said.

Very much the same can be said of the port area’s internal pipeline network, an openaccess asset available to all operators within the chemical cluster. Not only does this create operational efficiencies, it also feeds into the port’s targets in terms of modal shift, allowing the seamless movement of large volumes of product that might otherwise add to road congestion.

The concept will be taken further in future under the PipeLink banner, which also envisages expanding coverage to include the distribution of waste heat between generators and consumers and the movement of captured CO².

GIVE THEM SOME SPACE To take all these projects – and others yet to be defined – forward, innovative thinking will be needed. The Port of Antwerp has now set up what Vandermeiren called “a promising project”: NextGen District. This will involve the transformation of an 88-ha plot on the site of the former General Motors plant into a “hotspot for the circular economy and a test-bed for technology and sustainable innovation”.

NextGen District is seen as a place where end-of-life products will be given a second or third life; circular carbon solutions will be researched and experiments carried out in the area of renewable energy. Vandermeiren hopes that this will emerge as a hub for innovation and cross-fertilisation of ideas and sees it as a way of giving “oxygen to the new generation”.

Port alderwoman Annick de Ridder added: “With the NextGen District, we are aiming to create numerous new jobs that will further contribute to the sustainable growth of our port. For us, it is essential that new concession holders share and uphold our future and sustainability ambition. This will help strengthen, synergise and diversify the port platform. Moreover, this is the ideal location to accelerate the transition in the Antwerp chemical cluster. As such, we are continuing to focus on the added value of the future and therefore also on our prosperity.”

The Port of Antwerp will put in place an international award procedure to attract investors, whether they are large companies, small startups or ideas factories; their size is not important – Vandermeiren is clear: “We need change leaders,” he said.

“We have the power to re-think the world, but it’s clear we cannot do this on our own,” Vandermeiren added, hoping that the NextGen District will provide “the soil that breeds innovation”. Ultimately, he concluded, “Collaboration and partnerships will pave the way to transition – and it’s the only path to follow.” www.portofantwerp.com

THE DIVERSE COMMUNITY WITHIN THE PORT OF

ANTWERP PROVIDES AN IDEAL FOCUS WHERE IDEAS

AND INNOVATION CAN BE DISCUSSED AND SHARED,