- Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG), a leading provider of energy transportation services, announced that they have been awarded a $400,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy to study the development of its proposed Tampa Regional Intermodal Carbon Hub. The study is intended to evaluate the commercial feasibility of developing an intermediate storage hub at Port Tampa Bay for CO2 captured from industrial emitters across the State of Florida. As conceived, the hub would initially receive, store, and process two million metric tons of CO2 per year, which would ultimately be transported by OSG vessels across the Gulf of Mexico for permanent underground storage. This storage and transport hub will be the first of its kind in the nation and could be scaled in the future to meet expanded volumes of captured CO2.

“OSG has an extensive track record of adopting industry leading new technologies and developing innovative solutions to continue our reputation as a leading provider of energy transportation,” said Sam Norton, President and CEO. “Transporting liquified CO2 is a natural next step into an exciting emerging market, consistent with OSG’s expertise with liquid cargoes,” explained Norton. “The development of a hub storage terminal at Port Tampa Bay will provide a comprehensive solution to allow Florida’s largest emitting industrial facilities to be part of the nation’s response to the impacts of climate change to which Florida is most vulnerable.”

“Florida's total CO2 emissions from power generation and industrial facilities is among the largest among all states in the country.   But, Florida has no pipeline system capable of transporting captured CO2 out of state,” said Mr. Norton. “OSG’s proposed hub site at Port Tampa Bay would aggregate and store  CO2 captured from emitters across the state for loading onto specialized liquified CO2 (“LCO2”)  vessels to be operated by the Company.  The LCO2 vessels would then deliver their cargoes to the northern Gulf of Mexico, which has the largest confirmed capacity for safe, deep, permanent underground sequestration of captured CO2. “

The DOE has encouraged the development of carbon capture and storage systems as part of the United States’ goal to reduce CO2 emissions to achieve net zero carbon by 2050. The OSG supply chain will connect Florida to the fast-maturing CO2 industry, will help improve air quality for all Florida residents, and provide hundreds of new jobs involving innovative technology and infrastructure in Florida to support carbon capture, storage, and transport systems that OSG is promoting.

“OSG is a longtime strategic partner and provider of maritime transportation services at Port Tampa Bay”, noted Paul Anderson, Port Tampa Bay President and CEO.  “This grant will make an important contribution as we work with OSG in exploring the development of a carbon distribution hub.”