The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, a €260 million Belgian measure in favour of Air Liquide Large Industry NV and BASF Antwerpen NV for a carbon capture and storage (‘CCS’) project, Kairos@C. The measure will contribute to Belgium’s climate targets by decarbonising the industry through an integrated cross-border CCS value chain, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal.
The project aims at capturing greenhouse gas (‘GHG’) emissions from the companies’ existing plants, located in Antwerp, that produce hydrogen, ammonia and ethylene oxide. The CO2 captured will be transported to a permanent underground storage site in the North Sea. The project aims to create an integrated, cross-border CCS value chain at industrial scale, which will result in around 20 million tonnes of net GHG emissions avoided, over 15 years. This innovative project will allow the beneficiaries to produce low-carbon hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia.
The project is a laureate of the first large-scale Innovation Fund call of 2020 and was awarded a grant of over €365 million. However, due to, among others, exceptional inflation over the past years, the project costs have significantly increased and as a result it could not start without additional aid.
A press release is available online.