Page 26 - Port of Hamburg Magazine 02.24

PAGE 26
ALL-PURPOSE PORT PORT OF HAMBURG MAGAZINE 2/24
Logistics hub for CO2
The Port of Hamburg is ideal for handling carbon dioxide. Evos has already gained many years of experience doing just that.
BY RALF JOHANNING
The political conversations about carbon capture and storage (CCS) have reached a temporary conclusion. The federal government has decided to initiate a draft bill that will also allow CCS and CCU in Germany. With the draft amendment to the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act (KSpG), the federal government primarily intends to create a clear framework for developing CO2 pipeline infrastructure and enable the offshore storage of CO2. The bill will now proceed to the Ger- man parliament and federal council, where it will be subject to parliamentary consultation. As a result, the day draws closer when CCS will be permitted in Ger- many beyond the research phase. After all, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere will require sequestering gas underground. Empty oil and gas fields at sea are suitable for this purpose, giv- ing seaports an important new role. Some of the car- bon dioxide will be handled here.
CO2 is already handled at the Port of Hamburg today – as a highly valuable product for the food industry. Evos is a company that has been handing this special carbon dioxide for many years now, operating its own specially procured tanks. “The current setup offers around 1,200 cubic metres of capacity,” explains Jörg Bargest, Business Development & Commercial Man- ager at Evos in Hamburg, “handling operations are mostly automated here.”
As soon as ships dock at the bridge, unloading still be- gins manually. At least the connections need to be made for the unloading process to begin. Everything else runs automatically. This also applies to further transport. The tank truck drivers are equipped with corresponding cards. They take care of the whole pro- cess at the filling station independently. “We general- ly only provide our customers parts of our infrastruc- ture and the space for the storage tanks. Everything
else is organised entirely by the customer,” adds Barg- est.
With a storage capacity of 670,000 cubic metres and nine moorings, Evos is broadly positioned in Ham- burg. In addition to conventional petroleum products, Evos is working full-steam on the future. “We want to handle even more biofuels like HVO in the future, but we also have handling operations for green ammonia or methanol and other hydrogen derivatives and carri- ers firmly in our sights.
What’s more, we are already talking to companies about how and in what quantities we could handle carbon dioxide for CCS plants,” says Jörg Bargest. “The Northern Lights project in Norway could be- come an actual use-case.” Bargest also believes in the possibility to support future customers in market- ing their existing green CO2 in addition to loading fos- sil CO2.
For Evos, the prospects of handling CO2 for storage in the near future are good. There are not only nine moorings for seafaring vessels. The company also of- fers its customers
excellent handling
capacity for in-
land transport.
For instance, the
employees dis-
patch up to seven
full trains every day. Moreover, there are eleven load- ing platforms for tank trucks. There would also be space for additional tanks on site. According to Barg- est, the current storage capacity for CO2 could be ex- panded by at least 10,000 cubic metres at any time and connected to the railway network. The area po- tential on the site, however, scarcely offers any room
Jörg Bargest
Business Development Manager and Commer- cial Manager at Evos
© Evos