French LNG terminal operator Elengy, a unit of Engie’s GRTgaz, and compatriot pipeline and storage firm SPSE have joined forces to develop a carbon capture, utilization, and storage project in France.
According to a joint statement, the two firms aim to accelerate the development of CO2 transport for industrial companies in the Rhone valley and the Fos-sur-Mer industrial port area.
The partners plan to develop a network of CO2 transport infrastructure, linking industrial sites in the Rhone valley to a liquefaction and export terminal at Fos-sur-Mer under the Rhone CO2 project.
This infrastructure will help set up a CCS chain in one of France’s most industrialized regions.
Moreover, the partners said this solution “offers manufacturers, whose processes generate fatal CO2 emissions that cannot be completely eliminated, the means to achieve their carbon neutrality objectives.”
This infrastructure will also support the development of CCU (carbon capture and utilization) projects currently being studied in the region, such as the production of synthetic fuels (e-fuels).
Bringing this project into service would reduce CO2 emissions by 4 million tonnes a year by 2030, they said.
Call for expressions of interest
SPSE’s pipeline network and Elengy’s terminals at Fos-sur-Mer are existing assets that can be reused or pooled, accelerating the decarbonization of industry while reducing costs and limiting public-private investment, they said.
Elengy operates the Fos Tonkin and Fos Cavaou LNG terminals on the Mediterranean coast, and also the Montoir-de-Bretagne facility on the Atlantic coast.
These terminals have a combined regasification capacity of some 21.5 bcm per year.
The partners launched a call for expressions of interest for the Rhone CO2 project.
This will allow to identify CO2 emitters and CCU project sponsors interested and ready to commit to the development of the project and its infrastructure by 2030, they said.
Also, the deadline for submitting expressions of interest is July 1, 2024.
“Following our first tender for the GOCO2 terminal in the St-Nazaire basin last March, this new project reinforces our commitment to helping industrial companies decarbonize their processes,” Nelly Nicoli, Elengy’s managing director said in the statement.
“Thanks to SPSE’s pipeline network and Elengy’s terminal, we can offer manufacturers in the Rhone valley and along the Mediterranean coast a real opportunity to decarbonize their processes through CCUS,” Nicoli said.