Ambrian Energy GmbH (Bremen, Germany) and Messer SE & Co. KGaA (Bad Soden, Germany) announce that the planned joint venture “CarbonBridge” has successfully received antitrust approval from the European Commission. This milestone paves the way for the development of the terminal of the same name — Germany’s first operational CO₂ export terminal. The CarbonBridge export terminal in Bremen is scheduled to begin operations as early as 2031.
Initially, the CarbonBridge Joint Venture is expected to achieve a maximum handling capacity of approximately 2.3 million metric tons per year — with plans to increase this to about 4 million metric tons annually in the future. Together, Ambrian Energy and Messer are paving the way for a sustainable future by combining state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology to combat industrial CO₂ emissions.
CarbonBridge will serve as a versatile provider of CO₂ logistics solutions — including temporary storage, transport, and loading. These capabilities represent a significant milestone in Germany’s efforts to combat climate change and transition to a sustainable economy.
The CO₂ export terminal was developed to meet the urgent need for a functional logistics chain for captured carbon dioxide from CO₂-intensive industries, such as the cement, glass, and steel industries, as well as waste incineration. Due to the high volumes of CO₂ that are inevitably generated in their production processes, these industries require technical and logistical decarbonization strategies. In the future, CarbonBridge will provide a reliable and scalable solution for transporting recovered CO₂ from the emitter to the sink, where the CO₂ will be permanently stored. This will enable CO₂-intensive industries to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining operational efficiency. As a result, CarbonBridge plays a central role in supporting Germany’s transition to a climate-neutral future.
“We are very pleased with the antitrust approval for CarbonBridge, a project that underscores our commitment to implementing Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS) in Germany — covering the entire value chain from the CO₂ source to the sink. In most projects, the logistics involved in transporting CO₂ to the final storage site are the biggest challenge. With CarbonBridge, we aim to offer a flexible solution,” said Ralph Spring, Senior Manager Commercials CCUS, Messer SE & Co. KGaA (Bad Soden, Germany).
Ambrian Energy and Messer are among the leading companies in their respective industries and combine decades of expertise in the fields of energy logistics and CO₂ recovery, respectively. The CarbonBridge export terminal is intended to serve as a flagship project to advance CO₂ capture, including transport and storage, in Europe — particularly in Germany — and to offer CO₂-intensive industries a reliable export option for captured carbon dioxide.
Daniel Pätzold, Managing Director of Ambrian Energy GmbH (Bremen, Germany), adds: “Industrial companies rely on a reliable export infrastructure for captured CO₂ to achieve decarbonization. This is precisely the gap we aim to close with CarbonBridge. The European Commission’s approval is therefore not only an important step for our project, but also a strong signal for the development of a competitive carbon capture and storage infrastructure in Germany.”
Ambrian Energy is contributing a strategically located, three-hectare property in Bremen, Germany, to the project. This site offers logistical advantages, including an existing rail connection for CO₂ transport by train and a port berth capable of accommodating ships with a capacity of up to 30,000 metric tons. These features will facilitate the seamless onward transport of the captured CO₂ to geological storage sites in the North Sea. Messer brings its decades of expertise in CO₂ capture and processing to the partnership, underscoring its commitment to “ZeCarb,” the company’s innovative “Carbon Capture as a Service” solution. This offering enables industrial emitters to have Messer and its partners handle the entire process, from CO₂ capture to final storage in a sink.