Fluxys, OGE and Wintershall Dea have agreed to collaborate on a project which will focus on the creation of a cross-border pipeline. This development will be used for the transportation of carbon dioxide and this Co2 will be used to accelerate the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries in Germany.

The collaborating companies have divided the tasks required within the project between them, with Fluxys and OGE developing the necessary infrastructure, which will be used to transport the Co2. Wintershall Dea will be focused on the customer side of the project, in particular, ensuring that customer engagement is focused on the correct places of the project in Southern Germany, to make sure that the network is adequately designed. The pipeline structure created by Fluxys and OGE will transport the carbon in Belgium and Germany and will be designed to create an interoperability of a cross-border system. Altogether, the participating companies will be working together with a shared aim to create a structure which will effectively and efficiently transport Co2 from Southern Germany, to Belgian Co2 export hubs, which are also currently under development. The overall result of this innovative project is to help, highly industrialised Southern Germany decarbonise, by transporting the captured carbon through pipelines to the storage hubs in Belgium. Once the emissions reach these hubs, they will then be exported to the North Sea reservoirs, where they can be stored permanently and safely.

The undersea storage for the carbon is easily accessible through the Belgian exit hubs, which offer a reliable, open-access and short distance solution for decarbonising Southern German industries, plus Belgian industries.

CEO of Fluxys, Pascal De Buck, commented, “Multiple strong partnerships are essential for the development of an open-access CO2 infrastructure to accommodate the carbon capture and storage chain. We are delighted to welcome OGE and broaden our ongoing collaboration with Wintershall Dea to reinforce and accelerate the decarbonisation of industry in Germany and beyond via the Belgian backbone, which will also connect the Belgian industries. The CCS chain is essential for the industry to decarbonise whilst maintaining economic activity and employment. It is our ambition to offer the capacity to the market for the transport of 30 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030 through the Fluxys infrastructure.”

CEO and Chairman of the Board of Wintershall Dea, Mario Mehren, added, “Southern Germany has a vibrant industry, and its decarbonisation will be key to remain competitive. Therefore, we are glad to have next to Fluxys another strong partner with Open Grid Europe to build an infrastructure that provides a reliable removal of CO2 from that region to offshore storage sites.”