Pipeline installation contractor wanted for Dutch CCS project

The Dutch Porthos Offshore Transport and Storage has issued a tender for the installation of about 20 kilometers of offshore pipeline for what will be one of the largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in the world.

Port of Rotterdam CO2 Transport Hub and Offshore Storage (Porthos) will transport the CO2 from industry in the Port of Rotterdam to a depleted gas field 20 kilometers off the coast and store it at a depth of three to four kilometers under the North Sea seabed.

The contractor will be responsible for the offshore installation works, including dredging in the nearshore zone and in the Maasgeul, backfilling of the dredged sections of pipeline and post-lay trenching, and backfilling of the non-dredged sections of the pipeline.

The selected company will also be in charge of executing the shore crossing by pipe pull through a pre-installed HDPE carrier pipe, fabrication and installation of subsea spool pieces and related pipeline tie-in to the riser, fabrication and installation of the riser and associated clamps, as well as pre-commissioning activities from onshore battery limit.

Interested parties are free to submit their applications for the tender by 18 April at 10:00 a.m. local time.

The contract is set to start on 1 January 2023 and end three years later, on 31 December 2026.

Porthos is a partnership between EBN, Gasunie, and the Port of Rotterdam Authority.

Air Liquide, Air Products, ExxonMobil and Shell recently signed the final contracts with Porthos for the transport and storage of CO2.

Construction of the system will take about two years. This includes onshore and offshore pipelines, a compressor station, and modification of the offshore platform. During this period, the companies will construct their capture installations, so the first CO2 can then be stored in 2024.

The project is set to store an annual amount of 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 from the industry in empty gas fields beneath the North Sea.