The Dutch government has recently granted $2.4 billion in subsidies to a massive carbon storage project, according to the media. The consortium includes oil majors such as Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil. It is expected to become one of the most significant carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects globally.
Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil have requested the subsidies in early January along with Air Liquide and Air Products, industrial gas suppliers. The request for a project aims to capture carbon dioxide emitted by factories and refineries in the port area of Rotterdam and store it in empty Dutch gas fields in the North Sea. The companies that are involved are told that their applications will be granted.
The project is set to become completely operational by 2024 and is expected to reduce emissions in the industrial cluster surrounding Europe’s largest seaport by around 10 percent. The details of the subsidies might be made public later this month after decisions are taken on all applications of 2021.
The government has planned to grant $6.08 billion in subsidies in the current year for technologies that help achieve the nation’s climate goals. So far, the received applications’ total sum has hit $7.78 billion. The CCS subsidies are designed to compensate the companies for the extra costs to capture the greenhouse gasses instead of emitting them. The port will provide the needed infrastructure that will be used to transport the carbon dioxide to the empty offshore gas fields.
The Netherlands that houses large industries and is one of the main seaports in Europe is among the other countries with the highest emissions of greenhouse gases per capita in Europe. It has plans to reduce the emissions by 55 percent relative to 1990 levels in the next decade.