News

With the conclusion of the public consultation for the first draft permits and the draft project decision, a next step has been taken towards the final decisions for the Aramis project and the other five projects within the Aramis Initiative.

Mirjam Lammers, commercial lead at Aramis, is working with her legal and commercial colleagues to establish the CCS value chain. She discusses the importance of transparency, the satisfaction that comes from achieving tangible results and the need to always return to common ground.

The end of summer marks a new political season, during which the newly formed cabinet really gets down to business. Aramis will be looking out for some key events in the political calendar, including the parliamentary debate on carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Submitting the permit applications and making them available for public inspection marks a key step in the Aramis project. Due to its size and scale, the project requires three rounds of submission.

As we enjoy the last lovely summer days in the Netherlands, it's time to reflect on the past few months and prepare for the rest of the year.

In this newsletter Annemarie Manger on energising summer, in conversation with Freek Postma and Ko Dirkzwager, how do significant political developments affect Aramis, Co2Next reaches key milestone in development of crucial CO2 infrastructure and European Union is supporting CCS project.

The recently adopted Net Zero Industry Act (NZIA) stipulates a legal objective for the EU to enable an annual 50 million tonnes (50 Mtpa) of CO₂ to be stored underground by 2030. In order to support the ambitious climate goals a further scale-up to over 250 Mtpa of permanent underground storage in the EU will be required by 2050.

The new Dutch government plans have been finalised. While the outline agreement specifically covers issues related to the likes of heat pumps and solar panels, the coalition aims to cut back on climate policy funding. What does that mean for the development of CCS?

Aramis brings together people of all ages to help create a greener world. The younger generation is full of innovative and bold ideas. “Our senior colleagues possess the knowledge and experience, while we have the time and bring fresh energy. It really is a joint effort”, says Ko Dirkzwager

Now that summer is here, I am excited to share the latest Aramis developments with you. The momentum we talked about in our March newsletter continues unabated. Both Aramis and CCS in general have made significant steps forward over the past few months.

In June, the CO2next project reached an important milestone by entering the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase. The FEED contract has been awarded to engineering and technology group Sener.

In this newsletter Annemarie Manger on Aramis building one culture, Aramis preferred option for CO₂ storage and trunkline routing, the people behind Aramis and the Value Chain (VCI).

We are excited to share one of the latest developments from the Aramis team, the newly launched Value Chain Initiative (VCI). A strategic framework that unites key stakeholders in the Aramis CCS value chain.

In this newsletter, we provide further insight into the project organisation by highlighting our colleagues at FEED partner Petrofac. The Aramis FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) is a multifaceted endeavour comprising several critical components: an onshore and an offshore pipeline, a tunnel, a platform and the L4A spurline.

I am delighted to be able to share some of the project’s highlights with you as the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close. The Aramis project has welcomed many new faces over the last few months, and we are proud of the team that has been put together.

The Aramis project and her partners are all committed to D&I and value the unique perspectives, experiences, expertise, cultures, and working styles that each employee brings.

Dutch Minister of Climate and Energy Rob Jetten has determined the preferred option (VKA) for the Aramis project infrastructure and offshore trunkline routing. The decision marks an important step towards implementing the largest CCS project in North-West Europe.

The European Commission (EC) has proposed to grant the Aramis CCS-project a subsidy of 124 MEUR.

In this newsletter Annemarie Manger on Aramis gaining momentum, James Flynn on the recruitment of the joint team and Aramis and Nature-Inclusive design.

On the morning of Wednesday, 16 August, we watched the livestream of the final decision on the Porthos project with bated breath. Would the construction of the first CO2 storage and transport project in the Netherlands get the go ahead? An important moment, also for Aramis, which is set to provide access to almost 10 times more storage capacity than Porthos. At 10.15 am, we were all cheering from behind our desks.

Recruitment for the joint team is advancing well, and the team will soon take over responsibility for the Aramis project management. The multidisciplinary team will comprise more than 40 staff from Aramis initiators TotalEnergies, Shell, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and Gasunie. James Flynn, Project Director and former Project Development Manager at TotalEnergies, will lead a sub-team that he has put together. In this interview, James describes the work he has been doing for Aramis and the goals for the upcoming period.

Ahead of the FEED phase (Front-End Engineering Design), Aramis and the North Sea Foundation are exploring ways to make the offshore pipeline and platforms as nature friendly as possible. “We design structures to be nature inclusive”, says Freija Rappoldt, Stakeholder Manager at Aramis. “One way of achieving this is by using recycled or natural materials, like oyster shells and calcareous rocks.” In collaboration with the North Sea Foundation, Wageningen University and others, Aramis has selected five nature-inclusive measures. Their feasibility will be explored by Aramis’ technical engineers in the upcoming FEED phase.

The Aramis CCS project has achieved a major milestone, which is the entry into the FEED phase (Front End Engineering and Design). The project partners — TotalEnergies, Shell, EBN and Gasunie — have reached agreement on the further development of a key element of the required infrastructure, including the offshore trunkline, as well as the technical/operational integration of the source-to-sink CCS value chain. This brings completion of the largest CCS project in North-West Europe a step closer.

Cross-border collaboration is key to the success of large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. This message was emphasised by several European stakeholders during a meeting at the European Parliament on Thursday, 21 September, organised by Aramis and Dutch politician and MEP Tom Berendsen.

In this newsletter an interview with Head of Joint Team Annemarie Manger on Aramis impact, an update on the realisation of the Aramis pipeline and looking ahead to the Aramis FEED phase.

After nearly two years, the preparation phase for Aramis is almost complete. Once the preferred options for the pipeline route and landing location have been determined, the project can enter the FEED (Front-End Engineering Design) phase.

A 230-kilometer pipeline connecting the Maasvlakte to the distribution platform will soon cross the busy North Sea. From the platform, a network of smaller pipes will feed into the depleted gas fields.

“Aramis will soon contribute to meeting not only the climate targets of the Netherlands but also those of the whole of Northwest Europe.” That’s the promise of Annemarie Manger, who became Head of Joint Team on 11 April.

On June 22, 2023 the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Micky Adriaansens, Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Belgium) and the Ministers Zuhal Demir (Flanders) and Philippe Henry (Wallonia) signed an agreement on CCS cooperation and cross-border transport of CO₂. The agreement was signed in Antwerp during the State visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima to Belgium.

This newsletter provides an update on the progress of the Aramis project. But first, let us start by saying we are delighted to welcome our new Head of Joint Team and four new Team Leads to the project!

Annemarie Manger becomes ‘Head of Joint Team’ for the Aramis project on April 11. In this new position she will manage a combined multidisciplinary team consisting of staff members from TotalEnergies, Shell, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and Gasunie.

Last year, more than 20 potential customers showed genuine interest in wanting to team up with Aramis to become launching customers for the first 5 Mtpa of CO₂ to be transported and stored in offshore gas fields under the North Sea. Recently some launching capacity has been released. This limited remaining capacity (of around 0.3 to 0.5 Mtpa) will be offered by the Aramis Joint Marketeers to interested parties in a similar process that was followed last year.

Aramis aims to realizing a transport infrastructure allowing the industrial sector to transport CO₂ and store it in depleted gas fields under the North Sea. Aramis has established a specification for the CO₂ to be fed into the envisaged transport infrastructure. This specification aims to ensure the non-corrosivity of the CO₂ mixture under normal, transient and upset conditions.

On 2 December 2022, the Dutch government added the Aramis project to its multi-year energy and climate infrastructure programme (Meerjarenprogramma Infrastructuur Energie en Klimaat – MIEK). This means Aramis is now a designated project of national importance.

The minister has determined and published the Memorandum on Scope and Level of Detail (NRD) on December 2, 2022. This memorandum contains the framework for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) to be drawn up for Aramis. The EIA maps out the environmental effects of the project, such as the effects on safety, landscape, nature, soil and water. The aim of the EIA is to make sure that environmental issues are given a rightful place in the decision-making process.

In this newsletter, we are will share with you what Aramis is currently working on. For example, we will look into the possibilities for enhancing nature in two hackathons. Universities, knowledge institutes, nature and environmental organisations and our own technicians have been invited to these hackatons.

On August 18, 2022, the environmental impact assessment commission (Commissie Milieueffectrappportage) has published its advice on the draft memorandum scope and level of detail (concept Notitie Reikwijdte en Detailniveau) of Aramis. This advice enables Aramis to take the next step and start up the environmental effect study (milieueffectrapportage). * Article in Dutch *

The Aramis project has been given the status of a Project of Common Interest (PCI) by the European Commission.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate has published a new notification of the Aramis initiative on Friday 10 June. It concerns the concept Memorandum Scope and Level of Detail (c-NRD). On 21 June, the Ministry of EZK and Aramis are organising an information meeting about the notification. *Article in Dutch*

On January 6, 2022, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) received a request from project Aramis for the realisation of a large-scale CO₂ transport infrastructure to deepen the storage of CO₂ in empty gas fields. under the North Sea. The announcement marks the official start of formal talks for the project. *Article in Dutch*

On 10 December, State Secretary Yeşilgöz-Zegerius informed the House of Representatives in a letter about the current state of affairs of CCS projects in the Netherlands, including Aramis.

TotalEnergies, Shell Netherlands, Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and Gasunie formed a partnership to enable large-scale CO2-reduction for industrial clusters in the Netherlands.