Sines, Portugal, Nov. 5, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister of infrastructure and housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, on Tuesday praised the role of the port of Sines, in the district of Setúbal, for the national economy, considering it essential to lead the energy challenges facing Europe.
"Sines is the country's largest transhipment port and, little by little, it will become the largest international interland port, so today the role that Sines plays in the national economy is very significant," he said on the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the creation of a green corridor between the ports of Sines, Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Duisport (Germany) and the company Madoqua.
According to the minister, this is a "historic" agreement for the creation of "the first green corridor" that will allow the transport of alternative fuels and raw materials based on hydrogen derivatives, such as e-ammonia and e-methanol, and products such as liquefied CO2, from Portugal to north-west Europe.
"It's essential for Sines to lead this enormous challenge that Europe has. It's not enough to lead in words; we also have to lead in deeds, and that's why Sines and Portugal had the art and ingenuity, together with private initiative and universities, [to] manage to capture for Portugal most of the European incentives for this area of green hydrogen," he said.
However, he emphasised that it was necessary to "ensure that intellectual property, talent, knowledge and the economy that will help the country grow sustainably remain in Portugal".
The ceremony, which took place at the Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (ZILS), was attended by Mona Neubaur, the minister for economy, industry, climate protection and energy and deputy prime minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Marloes Ras from the company Madoqua, José Luís Cacho from the Administration of the Ports of Sines and the Algarve, Wouter Demenint from the Port of Rotterdam, and Markus Bangen from Duisport signed the memorandum of understanding.
Speaking to journalists, Miguel Pinto Luz emphasised that this green corridor "will link Sines to ports as large as the port of Rotterdam and Duisport". He said the government was committed to "closing a partnership with Brazil" to create "a corridor with the South Atlantic" and working "with the Canadian ambassador" for "the North Atlantic".
"Sines, from that point of view, has a unique geostrategic location, and we believe very much in the potential of Sines, in the growth that Sines can have," not least because “the government continues to make investments, namely in the railway and in the southern international corridor that will serve Sines,” he stressed.
Asked about other announced investments in hydrogen production that have since been cancelled, the minister said that "this stops, starts, has stopped" and that the government is committed "to this path towards green hydrogen, but also to the path towards the great mobilising project for the whole of Europe".
"I'm not afraid at all. I'm confident in our bets, and today we have proof of that," he concluded.
The Portuguese-Dutch company Madoqua is developing a project in Sines to produce green hydrogen and ammonia. The project represents an investment of €1.3 billion (phase 1) and €1.5 billion (phase 2).
In 2022, Madoqua announced a partnership with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Power2X to build a 1.2 GW (Gigawatt) industrial-scale green hydrogen and ammonia project, MadoquaPower2X, in Sines, Portugal. The project will create more than 150 direct jobs and 2,000 indirect jobs.
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