By Mordi Chukwunonso Esther 

A consortium that includes oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil has requested a total of 2.1 billion euros ($2.55 billion) in subsidies for a project to store CO2 gasses in empty Dutch gas fields in the North Sea, the Dutch Economy ministry said on Thursday.

The subsidies were requested together with industrial gas suppliers Air Liquide and Air Products for a project which aims to capture carbon dioxide emitted by factories and refineries in the Rotterdam port area in order to significantly reduce emissions in Europe’s largest sea port.

The port and the four companies involved said they would take a final investment decision on the project early next year, and aim to have it operational by 2024.

The Dutch government has said it will grant a total of 5 billion euros in subsidies in 2021 for technologies that will help it achieve its climate goals.

The government said it had received applications for a total sum of 6.4 billion euros. It expects to decide on the division of the subsidies by the end of the second quarter.

Home to many large industries and Europe’s main seaport, the Netherlands is among the countries with the highest emissions of greenhouse gasses per capita in Europe.

It aims to lower emissions by 55% relative to 1990 levels by 2030. Emissions were down 18% from 1990 levels in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available.

($1 = 0.8230 euros)