CO2next has opened a call for interest from market participants as it considers adding a rail unloading facility to its planned liquid CO2 terminal in Rotterdam.
The initiative follows the completion of a joint feasibility study in 2025 that examined the technical and logistical requirements for receiving carbon dioxide by rail.
The project partners are now seeking feedback from potential users ahead of the next engineering stage, with a pre-front-end engineering design (pre-FEED) phase expected to begin later this year.
CO2next is developing an open-access terminal at the Maasvlakte industrial area of Rotterdam, designed to receive, store and transfer captured carbon dioxide before onward transport to offshore storage sites. The facility is being developed by a consortium including Vopak, Gasunie, Shell and TotalEnergies.
The proposed terminal will initially focus on handling liquefied CO2 delivered by ship, with infrastructure to store the gas temporarily and prepare it for transport to offshore storage sites beneath the North Sea.
Assessing demand for rail transport
The call for interest is intended to evaluate whether there is sufficient industry demand to justify adding infrastructure capable of unloading liquid CO2 transported by rail tank cars.
According to the developers, the additional transport mode could expand access to carbon capture and storage infrastructure for emitters located away from waterways or pipeline networks.
If developed, the rail unloading facility would form part of a broader CO2 logistics network connecting industrial emitters to storage sites in the North Sea.
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The Rotterdam terminal is expected to link directly to offshore transport systems such as the planned Aramis CO2 pipeline, which is designed to move captured emissions from onshore hubs to depleted gas fields for permanent storage.
Project developers say the open-access terminal is intended to provide non-discriminatory infrastructure for industries seeking carbon management solutions, including both carbon storage (CCS) and potential future carbon utilisation pathways.
By expanding transport options to include rail, sea and inland waterways, the CO2next project aims to support the development of a larger European carbon transport network and facilitate the scaling of CCS across industrial regions.
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