Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG CO2 infrastructure project takes step forward

The D’Artagnan project will include an Air Liquide pipeline to transport CO₂ from the sites of capture as well as a terminal located in the port of Dunkirk to liquefy and load CO₂ on ships. The firstCO₂ infrastructure project in France to receive support from the European Union, D’Artagnan would benefit from a grant of more than €160 million as part of the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy (CEF-E) funding programme if the project is implemented.

D’Artagnan is the central link of a complete value chain - the 'Cap Décarbonation' initiative – which is composed of complementary projects:

• CO₂ capture at Eqiom (cement plant in Lumbres, North of France) and Lhoist (lime production in Réty, North of France), thanks to the implementation of Air Liquide’s Cryocap^TM proprietary technology, benefiting from the Innovation Fund funding programme.
• CO₂ transportation by pipelines and CO₂ exportation terminal - D’Artagnan project.

As part of the D'Artagnan project, the CO₂ captured would be transported by pipelines built and operated by Air Liquide to a new CO₂ terminal in the West Port of Dunkirk, in the proximity of the LNG terminal.

This new terminal, which would be built and operated by Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG, would receive and liquefy CO₂, for shipment to permanent storage sites in the North Sea. As such, Air Liquide and Dunkerque LNG shareholders formed a joint venture which will benefit from Air Liquide's expertise in CO₂ management and liquefaction, combined with Dunkerque LNG’s experience in operating terminals. Designed to be open to industrial companies in the region for the transport and shipment of CO₂, this terminal would be able to receive 1.5 million tpy, and, in the future, additional volumes of up to 4 million tpy of CO₂ – equivalent to more than 5% of greenhouse gas emissions from industry in France. It would thus open the way to other CO₂ capture and sequestration projects in the Dunkirk basin.

The first CO₂ infrastructure project in France to receive support from the European Union, D’Artagnan marks an essential step towards the implementation of the capture and sequestration technologies needed to reduce CO₂ emissions in France and Europe.