MAN Providing Compressor Trains For CO2 Project

MAN Energy Solutions has received a contract for the engineering of three RG compressor trains for a carbon capture, utilization and storage project in the Netherlands.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority, Energie Beheer Nederland B.V. (EBN) and N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie are jointly developing the Port of Rotterdam CO₂ Transport Hub and Offshore Storage (PORTHOS). The project looks to store 2.5 million tons of CO₂ per year under the North Sea. Various companies will capture the CO₂ in the Rotterdam port area, a region that emits more than 16% of the CO₂ emissions in the Netherlands.

MAN Energy Solutions’ scope of supply for PORTHOS consists of engineering two RG 25-4 and one RG 31-4 type compressor trains with an order for three additional units intended at a later stage. The compressor trains will be at a compressor station on Maasvlakte, the man-made, western extension to Europoort.

At Europoort, the CO2 will be pressurized to up to 1914 psi (132 bar) to transport and inject the gas into the fields about 10,499 to 11,483 ft. (3200 to 3500 m) below the North Sea. The compressors can handle up to 285 tons of CO₂ per hour, depending on how many units are running.

PORTHOS is expected to store the first CO₂ under the North Sea by the end of 2023. MAN Energy Solutions‘ engineering contract will finalize in late summer with the material order expected in the second quarter of 2021.
At the end of 2019, the PORTHOS organization signed agreements with several companies interested in reducing their environmental footprints.

The method to achieve this involved capturing their CO₂ emissions and feeding them into the collective PORTHOS pipeline that will run 18.6 to 20.5 miles (30 to 33 km) through the Rotterdam port area. The CO₂ will then be transported to a platform 12.4 miles (20 km) off the Dutch coast. There, the CO₂ will be pumped into the exhausted P18 gas fields, which are expected to have a storage capacity of up to 37 million tons of CO₂.