MAN to supply compressors for North Sea CO2 storage scheme

Offshore staff

BERLIN, Germany – MAN Energy Solutions has won a contract to supply three RG compressor trains for a carbon capture, utilization and storage project offshore the Netherlands.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie are jointly developing the ‘Porthos’ (Port of Rotterdam CO₂ Transport Hub and Offshore Storage) project, which will involve storing around 2.5 MM t/yr of CO₂ (carbon-dioxide) beneath the North Sea.

The CO₂ will be captured by various companies in the Rotterdam port area, a region said to account for more than 16% of the Netherlands’ carbon-dioxide emissions.

At the end of last year, the Porthos group signed agreements with various companies interested in reducing their environmental footprints by capturing their CO₂ emissions and feeding them into the Porthos pipeline.

This will run for around 30-33 km (18.6-20.5 mi) through the Rotterdam port area, with the CO₂ then transported to a platform 20 km (12.4 mi) offshore for pumping into the depleted P18 gas fields (which are expected to have a storage capacity of ~37 MM t of CO₂.)

MAN’s scope covers engineering of two RG 25-4 and one RG 31-4 type compressor trains with an order for three further units likely to follow at a later stage.

The compressor trains will be located at a compressor station on Maasvlakte, the man-made, western extension to Europoort, where the CO₂ will be pressurized to ~132 bar (1,914 psi) in order to transport and inject the gas into the fields which are 3,200-3,500 m (10,498-11,483 ft) beneath the North Sea.

The compressors will be able to handle up to 285 t/hr of CO₂ per hour, depending on how many units are running.

Porthos is set to store the first CO₂ under the North Sea by the end of 2023, with MAN’s engineering contract likely to be finalized this summer.

05/26/2020