Climate & Air Emissions Reduction Renewable Energy

Port of Rotterdam: CO2 neutral in 3 steps

18 November 2021

The Port of Rotterdam is working towards achieving a carbon-neutral and circular port in three steps:

  • Step 1 Efficiency & infrastructure: reusing port heat, and capturing and storing CO2 under the North Sea;
  • Step 2 Energy transition: industry will switch to electricity, hydrogen and green hydrogen;
  • Step 3 New materials and fuel system: replacing fossil raw materials by sustainable alternatives.

Industry in the Port of Rotterdam creates a lot of heat from industry processes. Part of this is reused in other factories, but most of the heat disappears into the air. The Port of Rotterdam and Gasunie are working together to reuse this residual heat as a replacement for natural gas in households and greenhouses. CO₂ emissions will be reduced, and less gas will be needed from Groningen. At the moment 16,000 Rotterdam households are being heated using residual heat from a refinery in Pernis.

Via the Porthos project the Port aims to transport CO₂ from industry in port and store this in empty gas fields beneath the North Sea.

Step 2 involves changing the energy system to electricity, hydrogen and green hydrogen. The port area currently has around 200 MW of wind power and at least 150 MW of new wind power will be added. Existing turbines are regularly replaced with new, higher capacity turbines.

Sixteen parties are working within Project H-Vision. H-Vision aims to provide industry with low-CO₂ energy before 2030, particularly by replacing natural gas with blue hydrogen and possibly also using residual gases.

Northwest-Europe will also have to import hydrogen on a large scale to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions. The Port of Rotterdam Authority is therefore looking at ways to set up new hydrogen supply chains from countries where hydrogen can be produced and supplied cost-effectively. The Port, Koole Terminals, Chiyoda Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation have signed an agreement to a joint study of the feasibility of a commercial-scale import of hydrogen from overseas sources. 

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