The Ineos ethane cracker is by no means the only port project that is endangered by nitrogen. The planned port expansion in Antwerp, which is costing billions, is also threatening to come to a standstill.
Stavros Kelepouris8 August 2023, 03:00
Last month, the court annulled the permit for Project One, the billion-dollar investment by chemical giant Ineos in the port of Antwerp. According to the Council for Licensing Disputes, insufficient research had been done to determine whether the planned ethane cracker would not have negative consequences for the Brabantse Wal, a nearby nature reserve.
The case was brought by, among others, the Dutch province of North Brabant. After all, the Brabantse Wal is on Dutch territory, but the emissions from the port do blow into the Dutch nature. And that could give Flanders even more headaches. Because the planned port expansion in Antwerp can also have consequences for the Brabantse Wal.
Extra Container Capacity Antwerp (ECA), as the project is called in full, must keep the port of Antwerp competitive. Without intervention, the port threatens to reach its limits in the coming years. That is why an expansion is being worked on that should increase the current container capacity – 15 million freight containers per year – by almost half.
The cost picture is corresponding. The Flemish government already counted on an invoice of more than 3 billion euros last year, but at least a solid indexation of perhaps 10 percent must be added.
But all that can be compromised. In De Tijd, the employers’ organization VOKA has already stated that it is very concerned. Environmental lawyer Isabelle Larmuseau also sees problems looming. “I’ve been saying it for two years now: from the Netherlands you can shut down the port of Antwerp. It is overlooked that the nitrogen deposition in the Brabantse Wal from Flanders must be assessed according to the Dutch criteria. As soon as that nitrogen crosses the border, the Dutch nitrogen rules apply.”
Those rules are a lot stricter than in Flanders. Numerous projects in the Netherlands, such as the construction of motorways, have been halted due to the nitrogen crisis. Across the country, planned construction projects have been scrapped. In North Brabant, a complete permit stop was even introduced earlier this year, partly to protect the Brabantse Wal. The Brabantse Wal is one of the so-called Natura 2000 areas, which must be protected against further deterioration according to European legislation. That is precisely why the province had also filed an opposition to Project One.
In principle, North Brabant could also interfere with ECA when the permit is applied for next year. As a government, they are allowed to provide advice in the context of the permit procedure, and – just as with Project One – can ultimately appeal. Because it is certain that ECA will cause a lot of emissions. Due to the additional shipping at sea, for example. But also because of the freight traffic inland, and because of the construction of the docks themselves.
Part of that nitrogen can also precipitate in the Brabantse Wal. And since North Brabant no longer grants permits for Dutch projects, there seems to be a real chance that they will not simply let the extra nitrogen from Flanders blow over.
“There must be an appropriate assessment for ECA that addresses the Dutch criteria,” says Larmuseau. An appropriate assessment is jargon for a study that examines the exact impact of the additional emissions on a nature reserve. “Flanders has never correctly mapped out the cross-border effects of activities in the port, and has never realized that you have to test those effects against Dutch regulations and policy. That is a fundamental mistake.”
In De Tijd, the ECA team indicates that it does not want to get ahead of things. The preliminary investigation for the permit will only be completed in the course of next year.
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2023-08-08 01:00:41
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