CCS
Gasunie is committed to facilitating the development of CCS by developing CO2 transport and storage infrastructure together with partners from across the supply chain. The projects we are working on are Porthos, Aramis and CO2next.
Porthos
In September, the permits issued to Porthos for storing CO2 in depleted gas fields under the North Sea became irrevocable. The fields P18-2 and P18-4 are the first fields in the Netherlands in which CO2 may be stored permanently.
In March, the Dutch Council of State heard the appeal lodged by the environmental organisation Mobilisation for the Environment against the integration plan and two permits for Porthos. The session specifically considered the matter of the partial exemption issued for the construction – whether this was in line with European legislation and whether it had been correctly applied in the case of Porthos. The Council of State issued an interim ruling in November, and a final decision is expected in the course of 2023.
In December, the Dutch Council of Ministers published a guarantee scheme for Porthos, enabling Porthos to order materials in anticipation of obtaining the final permits and a positive FID, thus preventing further delays in the project. The guarantee scheme is still subject to parliamentary approval.
Aramis
In 2022, the Dutch government added Aramis to the list of projects that come under its multi-year programme for energy and climate infrastructure (‘MIEK’). Moreover, the European Commission has granted project PCI status, in part based on the possibility of processing CO2 from neighbouring countries – such as Belgium, Germany and France – as soon as this has become legally possible. A launch event was held with CO2 emitters and other stakeholders in November.
CO2next
In 2022, CO2next took the technical, organisational and commercial aspects of the project forward. The technical basic design has been completed, and the collaboration with Aramis was intensified. Now CO2next and Aramis will, together, turn their attention to the permit processes and the environmental impact report, to be drafted in accordance with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ memorandum on the scope and level of detail. The EIA is underway. Multiple market parties were invited to express their interest in an open season procedure.
