SHANNON Foynes Port has signed an agreement with the EU’s largest port to develop a supply chain corridor to export Irish-produced green fuels across mainland Europe.
The County Limerick port has signed an agreement with the Port of Rotterdam to explore ways that green energy produced in Ireland can be exported to Europe to be used in the heavy industry and transport sectors.
This forms part of Europe’s overall plans to import over 10 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2023 in an ongoing effort to replace the coal, oil, and natural gas in these industries.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both Shannon Foynes Port Company and the Port of Rotterdam this week.
The two ports plan to collaborate in market development and in finding countries to take supplies of green hydrogen and other derivatives from Ireland.
Patrick Keating, Shannon Foynes Port Company CEO, said: “With the largest wind resource in Europe off our west coast, we have the opportunity to become Europe’s leading renewable energy generation hub.”
The port CEO said that current plans “will deliver transformational change for Ireland in terms of energy independence and an unprecedented economic gain in the process”.
“In delivering on this, we can make our biggest ever contribution to the European project as we become a very significant contributor to REPowerEU, Europe’s plan to end reliance on fossil fuels.”
Mr Keating said that the region “can produce an infinite supply of renewable energy and there are already a number of routes to market emerging for that energy. One such route to market is the development of a supply chain into Europe.”
“This agreement with the Port of Rotterdam is a key step towards enabling that. The port of Rotterdam already works on introducing the fuels and feedstocks of the future with major oil and gas companies and its broader port community of over 3,000 commercial companies. It can be a key supply chain corridor for exporting green fuels from the Shannon Estuary into Europe.”
René van der Plas, Director International at the Port of Rotterdam, added: “The Port of Rotterdam is already Europe’s leading energy hub and recognises the significance and opportunity for all European citizens and industries arising from the Green Transition. To that end, hydrogen is one of our priorities and we are working hard towards establishing infrastructure, facilities, and partnerships that will help deliver on this.”
