During the state visit of the Belgian royal couple to Germany, the managing directors of Fluxys, OGE and Wintershall Dea signed a cooperation agreement for the transport of CO₂. The three companies are planning to build a cross-border pipeline for the transport of carbon dioxide with the aim of supporting the further decarbonisation of otherwise "hard-to-decarbonise" industries in Germany. The emissions are to be exported from highly industrialised southern Germany to the Belgian CO₂ export hubs for safe and permanent storage in reservoirs in the North Sea.
Pascal De Buck, CEO of Fluxys: "Several strong partnerships are essential for the development of an openly accessible CO₂ infrastructure for the CO₂ capture and storage chain. We are pleased to welcome OGE and expand our ongoing collaboration with Wintershall Dea to strengthen and accelerate the decarbonisation of industry in Germany and beyond via the Belgian backbone, which will also connect Belgian industries." The CCS chain is of crucial importance for the decarbonisation of industry while maintaining economic activity and employment. The aim is to provide the market with the capacity to transport 30 million tonnes of CO₂ via the Fluxys infrastructure by 2030.
Joint infrastructure for carbon capture, transport and storage
Fluxys CO₂ infrastructure and exit hubs in Belgium offer a reliable and freely accessible short-haul solution for the decarbonisation of southern German and Belgian industry. The short distance to the border combined with the bundling of volumes from Germany and Belgium has the potential for competitive CO₂ transport prices.
"Southern Germany has a vibrant industry whose decarbonisation will be the key to maintaining competitiveness. We are therefore delighted to have Open Grid Europe as another strong partner alongside Fluxys for the development of an infrastructure that will enable the reliable transport of CO₂ from this region to offshore storage sites", says Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea.
Fluxys and OGE will be responsible for developing the necessary infrastructure to transport the CO₂ through pipelines in Belgium and Germany respectively and ensure the interoperability of a cross-border system.
For Dr. Jörg Bergmann, CEO of OGE, the use of carbon management in the form of a CO₂ infrastructure in the sense of CCUS is also a key factor in a successful energy transition. "The possibility of transit or cross-border transport of CO₂ with our CO₂ network will make a valuable contribution to achieving climate targets and maintaining industrial value creation in Germany."
(Source: Fluxys)
