CO2 Management AS plans to build a carbon dioxide transshipment hub in Bremen
The company CO2 Management AS is planning to build a carbon dioxide transshipment hub in Bremen for subsequent usage or geological storage of the CO2. The project will enable hard-to-abate industries (cement, concrete, chemicals, steel and waste management) to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and thus contribute to achieving climate protection targets.
There is a scientific consensus that reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is instrumental to achieve the climate targets agreed in Paris in 2015. In addition to the urgent need to rapidly upscale renewable energy production, CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage) is an innovative solution that is currently being researched and developed in a large number of projects. The aim is to capture CO2 before it is released into the atmosphere and then reuse it for industrial purposes or to safely store it underground so that it is not harmful to our climate. This approach is especially important for sectors of the German economy that are difficult to decarbonize.
As a next step for a large-scale implementation of this technology, the company CO2 Management AS is planning to establish a carbon dioxide handling facility in Bremen and has signed a letter of intent with bremenports GmbH & Co. KG. This would be the first facility of its kind in Germany. The gas would be collected in liquefied form from various industrial sites for further usage or loaded onto ships and subsequent exported to permanent storage facilities.
Currently, feasible sites are being evaluated for their suitability with the port management company. Connection to the highway, the waterway network and tracks for train transport, makes the infrastructure well suited for the project. The location in Bremen provides the planned hub with excellent links to German industrial operations, as well as to the various offshore CO2 storage facilities planned in Europe. For German industry, as the largest CO2 emitter in Europe, this offer provides a good opportunity to reduce emissions. “This offer is unrivaled, as there are no CO2 storage facilities in Germany,” said Dr. Torsten Porwol, managing director of CO2 Management AS.
Several years are still to be expected for planning, approval and construction of the necessary infrastructure before the terminal can be put into operation.
The company is open to cooperation and is looking for interested industrial companies. This does not only apply to large companies with high CO2 emissions; solutions are also offered for smaller emitters. The CO2 should ideally come from the energyintensive basic materials industry, where CO2 is unavoidably produced as a result of the process. CCUS should be seen as a complement to, not a replacement for, renewables.
The role of bremenports will be to examine Bremen’s ports for suitable land potential and to provide positive support for the necessary planning and coordination processes. “The transshipment hub offers great growth potential both for Bremen as a location and for Germany as a whole,” said Porwol. “It creates a high availability of pure industrial CO2.” This can be used, for example, to produce synthetic fuels in the chemical industry. “The project has the potential for a new and versatile industry around CO2, which can bring interesting economic perspectives for the region.”
CO2 Management – The Company
CO2 Management AS was established in 2019 as a subsidiary of Petrolia SE in Bergen, Norway. The company provides sustainable and turnkey solutions for carbon dioxide reduction in the industry. As an independent supplier, the company can always implement latest available technologies. The range of services includes the capture of the climate gas in the industrial process and all further steps necessary for safe and permanent geological storage. The company invests in future-oriented technologies that sustainably reduce the CO2 footprint of its customers.
bremenports – The Company
Since the founding of bremenports GmbH & Co. KG in 2002, the company has set a milestone in German port management. On behalf of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen we manage the infrastructure of the port group Bremen / Bremerhaven.