In the 1st reporting period (RP), a Pilot Case for a potential European PCI was chosen. The selection of the pilot case was preceded by an evaluation of 4 potential pilot cases, with locations ranging from Germany, Norway and the UK. The multi-criteria analysis of the 4 potential pilot cases, included assessing the pilot cases against a number of quantitative and qualitative criteria (including the PCI criteria). Other criteria included transport distance, investment cost, cost per ton CO2 transported, expected public acceptability, existence of industrial and governmental support and CO2 mitigation potential. Based on the outcomes of this assessment, it was decided to pursue 'Rotterdam Nucleus' as our Pilot Case. The ‘North Sea sub-seabed strategic regional plan on CCS transport infrastructure’ from February 2017 (NSBTF, 2017), highlights a number of potential Project of Common Interest concepts, which it describes as “sensible locations for initial infrastructure development”. The development of a CO2 hub at the Port of Rotterdam is one of the showcased concepts.
In the 2nd (and last) RP, the Rotterdam Nucleus Pilot Case was refined and developed. Work in the GATEWAY project involved the identification of key technologies, assessment of relevant legal frameworks, statutes and viable ownership arrangements, a design for the assessment of local public perception, and the identification of possible funding sources. This portfolio of work fed into the proposal for a PCI, which included a prospectus for a PCI business case. As part of this work, a cost-benefit analysis was also performed. Through multiple GATEWAY stakeholder events, it became evident that sufficient traction from industrial and governmental representatives existed to support the project to actually submit the Rotterdam Nucleus business case as a PCI.
In March 2017, the Port of Rotterdam Authority offered to adopt the Rotterdam Nucleus PCI business case and become the official ‘Project Promoter’ for a PCI submission. The PCI submission also benefitted from encouragement from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as well as several affiliated applicants from the UK and Dutch private sectors. GATEWAY has hereby played a pivotal role in launching one of the first PCI applications with a defined business case, clear ownership and backing from multiple stakeholders.
The Rotterdam Nucleus project will provide the foundations for a high-volume CO2 transportation infrastructure system from mainland Europe to CO2 storage locations in the Dutch and UK sections of the North Sea. The infrastructure is designed to be over-sized, capable of providing CO2 transport capacity for pre-commercial and commercial phase CCS deployment in Rotterdam, as well as possible future links to industrial areas of third-party countries. A simplified outline of the two segments of the pipeline structure can be seen in Figure 3.
