Shannon Foynes Port Company agrees landmark deal with Europe's largest port

A new agreement looks set to see a supply chain corridor created between the Shannon Estuary and the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

Bosses at the Shannon Foynes Port Company have signed the deal with the largest European port, located in the Netherlands.

It comes with a view to developing a link between Rotterdam and Foynes to bring green fuels to Europe produced from the west of Ireland’s wind resource.

The agreement will focus on market and trade development for green hygiene and the items which come from it.

These will be provided at the planned green energy hub close to Foynes in County Limerick on the Shannon Estuary.

Europe’s overall green hydrogen strategy is to import 10m tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030 for use in heavy industry and transport sectors that are traditionally reliant on coal, natural gas, and oil.

The Port of Rotterdam intends to facilitate volumes of 40 million tonnes from across the world by 2050, a significant proportion of which can come from the Shannon Estuary.

The deal also provides for engaging relevant public stakeholders to support the initiative and sharing of information regarding the potential supply of green hydrogen and green hydrogen derivatives, such as green ammonia, green methanol, etc, as well as sharing best practice information on areas such as desalination, high voltage electricity, industrial clustering around the H2 molecule and green ship bunkering processes.

The two ports will also potentially work together on market development in this new market and jointly finding final off-takers for supplies from Ireland.

These would include maritime fuels sector, sustainable aviation fuels, green fertiliser and facilities with direct green hydrogen fuel requirements such as the steel industry.

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Pat Keating, chief executive of Shannon Foynes Port Company 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.

"That will deliver transformational change for Ireland in terms of energy independence and an unprecedented economic gain in the process.

"In delivering on this, too, 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.”