The Netherlands have awarded around €2bn in subsidies to the 2.5 MtCO2/year Port of Rotterdam Transport Hub and Offshore Storage (Porthos) project, as part of the first SDE++ round. The carbon capture and storage (CSS) project, developed by a consortium of Air Liquide, Air Products, ExxonMobil and Shell, aims to capture CO2 emitted by factories and refineries in the Port of Rotterdam area and store it in empty Dutch gas fields in the North Sea. The consortium had registered for a €2bn subsidy in January 2021. The associated permit procedures will run until the end of 2021 or early 2022, after which the partners will take a final investment decision (FID). The construction of the transport and storage infrastructure (led by Porthos) has been scheduled for 2022 and 2023, with the full project being taken into operation in 2024.
In December 2020, the European Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, the €30bn SDE++ scheme. The scheme, which will run until 2025, is open to projects based on renewable electricity, gas and heat, the use of industrial waste heat and heat pumps, the electrification of industrial heat processes and electrification of hydrogen production, and CCS for industrial processes, including hydrogen production and waste incineration. Projects will receive support via a variable premium contract of the duration of up to 15 years.