New developments in Energy & Utilities North Sea Port CO2 capture hub to cut Belgian emissions by 15%

The three partners are pushing ahead to develop a key infrastructure which accommodates the CCUS chain.

Ghent Carbon Hub is already set up as an open-access hub to transport and liquefy CO2 from emitters, provide buffer storage and load the liquefied CO2 onto ships for onward permanent storage. The feasibility study is already underway and commissioning is targeted for completion by 2027.

"Together with our partners, we offer strong and complementary know-how and expertise for providing reliable and efficient decarbonisation solutions, essential for achieving climate change objectives and ensuring the long-term viability of the economy. Ghent Carbon Hub is an integral part of the full-scale Fluxys CO2 approach, offering emitters in North Sea Port and the wider area the opportunity to convey their captured CO2 through our backbone."

Apartnership comprising of Fluxys, ArcelorMittal and North Sea Port has begun a feasibility study for the Ghent Carbon Hub project in Belgium, an open-access CO2 storage and liquefaction hub in the Ghent part of North Sea Port.

Besides carbon-neutral energy, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is increasingly considered to be essential for CO2intensive industries to achieve net-zero emissions, especially in hard-to-abate sectors with processes inherently generating CO2 emissions, such as shipping.

When complete Ghent Carbon Hub will be able to process 6 million tonnes of CO2 per annum (MTPA), equivalent to around 15% of Belgian industrial CO2 emissions.

The project will benefit from Fluxys’ long experience in terminalling activities, while Fluxys is also developing an open-access CO2 transmission backbone in Belgium. Ghent Carbon Hub connects into Fluxys’ CO2 backbone, allowing CO2 emitters from the North Sea Port area and other industrial clusters to transport their captured CO2 to the hub or locations of reuse.

Pascal De Buck, CEO of Fluxys said:

Daan Schalck, CEO of North Sea Port added: "North Sea Port has the ambition to halve CO2 emissions by 2030 and to be a carbon-neutral port by 2050. Total CO2 emissions in the port are 21.5 million tonnes.

"As a first step, the capture and storage of CO2 will have to be increased. Technological developments will be key to the reuse of CO2 over time. The capture and storage of CO2 is a necessary intermediate step towards its large-scale reuse. To this end, North Sea Port is fully engaged to facilitate this CO2 infrastructure project to make it happen."

This MOU will enable the revolutionary new Waste-to-Hydrogen plant at East Port Said to operate producing clean hydrogen while significantly reduce plastic waste, a problem that is global in nature and a topic that is to be discussed at COP27. Between the 1970s and the 1990s, plastic waste generation has more than tripled, reflecting a similar rise in plastic production. Today, we produce about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, and this is forecasted to reach 1,100 million tonnes by 2050. Of the seven billion tonnes of plastic waste generated globally so far, less than 10 percent has been recycled.

GreenPlanet for Sustainable Environmental Solutions., an Egyptian company (S.A.E.) that specializes in the Environmental aspects, with a special emphasis on waste management systems, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with H2-Industries Inc. to provide the necessary feedstock comprising organic and non-recyclable plastic waste for the new Waste-toHydrogen plant at East Port Said/ Suez Canal Economic Zone, Egypt.

Signed by Mohamed Assad, Chairman of Green Plant for Sustainable Environmental Solutions, and Michael Stusch, Executive Chairman and CEO of H2-Industries Inc., the MOU is important as the new Waste-to-Hydrogen plant will need a constant supply of organic and non-recyclable plastic feedstock in order to produce the targeted 300,000 tons of clean hydrogen per year.

In many countries, the infrastructure does not exist or is not sufficiently robust to guarantee waste collection, and therefore supplying a constant supply of feedstock is a challenge. Green Planet has undertaken to provide the necessary feedstock - up to 4 million tons of waste annually and, as such, will be developing a full supply chain in addition to managing a pre-treatment facility. Establishing a robust supply chain will enable the new Waste-to-Hydrogen plant to operate at capacity and, in doing so, will solve two common problems. These are the environmentally friendly disposal of waste, especially plastic waste, and the creation of generation capacity for clean energy in the form of CO2-emission-free hydrogen challenges that many countries face today.

Michael Stusch said, “This is just the first of several international projects where governments and responsible authorities around the globe realize that organic waste and especially plastic waste if treated correctly, can be a valuable asset and used to generate significant amounts of clean hydrogen”.

“The infrastructure that Green Planet will develop, and the feedstock it will provide as part of this landmark project, is truly a technology enabler accelerating energy transition in Egypt while providing an example to the rest of the world,” said Mohamed Assad.

Iberdrola sells 49% of first offshore German wind farm for €700m

With an installed capacity of 350 megawatts (MW) it has been supplying clean energy to approximately 350,000 German households since it was commissioned in 2018.

The transaction further advances Iberdrola`s asset rotation plan to finance new renewable projects under development.

Iberdrola had almost 1,300 MW of offshore wind capacity in operation by the end of June 2022. In addition, it has 3,000 MW under construction, another 4,000 MW secured and an extensive project pipeline under development.

Elsewhere, the group has two offshore wind farms in operation: West of Duddon Sands and East Anglia One commissioned in 2017 and 2020 respectively and located in the UK.

Spanish energy giant Iberdrola has sold off a 49% stake in its first operational stake for €700 million. Iberdrola will remain the majority 51% shareholder. According to the agreement, Wikinger’s total valuation amounts to approximately €1.425 billion. Iberdrola will continue to control and manage the asset, leading the operations and maintenance services.

EIP is a major Swiss infrastructure investment company focused on the global energy transition, with a track record as a long-term shareholder in the industry and experience in infrastructure and renewable technology.

Iberdrola, chaired by Ignacio Galan, is a major global player in offshore wind power. Wikinger is one of the company’s flagship operational projects and was the first offshore wind farm developed by the group on its own.

In the United States, Iberdrola group has begun construction of the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm: Vineyard Wind. Located off the coast of Massachusetts, its 800 MW capacity will meet the energy needs of 1 million homes. In total, Iberdrola has approximately 5,000 MW of offshore wind projects under development in the United States, including Park City Wind with 804 MW and Commonwealth Wind with 1,232 MW.

In Germany, the group has started construction of the 476-MW Baltic Eagle project in the Baltic Sea. Next year, construction will begin on Windanker, which will have a capacity of 308 MW.

These new wind farms will be joined by Saint-Brieuc, in French waters, which is expected to come into operation in 2023. It will have a capacity of 496 MW and will be located off the coast of Brittany, 20 kilometres offshore.

Iberdrola’s global offshore wind pipeline includes a wide range of projects at different stages of development in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Sweden, along with an expanding portfolio in countries such as Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and South Korea.