European Commission Allows 150 Million Euros for Dutch Carbon Capture Project

---

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The European Commission (EC) has approved a 150 million-euro ($208.6 million) grant by the Dutch government for a key carbon capture and storage (CCS) project under way in Rotterdam.

The commission cleared the way for the money to be allocated to the country's first large-scale CCS project, which is planned for the new Maasvlakte coal-fired plant in Rotterdam by E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany) and GDF Suez (EPA:GSZ) (Paris). The decision arrives in the same week that E.ON pulled out of the U.K.'s £1 billion ($1.6 billion) carbon-capture competition to focus its efforts on the Maasvlakte project. For related news, see October 25, 2010, article - E.ON Drops U.K. Carbon Capture Project.

The Dutch government announced the intention to grant the money in May, but it has only just received the go-ahead from the EC. The Rotterdam Capture Storage and Demonstration Project (ROAD) is a 250-megawatt (MW) project that will capture CO2 from E.ON's coal-fired unit, which is under construction at the Maasvlakte plant. The CCS plant will be attached to the new 1,100-MW unit, and captured CO2 will be transported by pipeline to the P18-A platform, about 20 kilometres from the coast. From there, it will be stored in a depleted gas field.

The post-combustion capture technology will be capable of capturing 90% of the plant's CO2 emissions at a rate of approximately 4,000 tonnes of CO2 per day. The partners estimate that that 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 will be stored per year.

"The Dutch CCS project will contribute to reaching the EU 2020 environmental objectives without unduly distorting competition," said Joaquín Almunia, the EC vice president in charge of competition policy.

The EC concluded that the large-scale Maasvlakte CCS project could not take place before 2020, despite its strategic interest, without the financial aid. The Maasvlakte project was awarded 180 million euros ($250 million) earlier this year under the European Energy Programme for Recovery, which also saw five other CCS projects receive significant funding. The six projects were:

• Powerfuel Power Limited's (Doncaster, England) combined-cycle plant in Hatfield, England
• Endesa SA's (MCE:ELE) (Madrid, Spain) Compostilla plant in Spain
• Vattenfall AB's (Stockholm, Sweden) Jaenschwalde plant in Germany
• PGE Elektrownia's Belchatow plant in Poland
• the Maasvlakte power plant in Rotterdam, owned by E.ON Benelux (Rotterdam)
• Italy's Porto Tolle plant near Venice, owned by Enel SpA (BIT:ENEL) (Rome)

View Plant Profile - 1087990 1080273 1078676 1054591 1058783 1083096
View Project Report - 200002120 74000164 73000293 77000057 75000121

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.