KUALA LUMPUR: Kuantan Port Consortium Sdn Bhd has projected liquefied carbon dioxide (CO2) handling to reach five million tonnes per year by 2030 in the first phase, potentially rising to 30 million tonnes per annum by 2050.
Kuantan Port chief commercial officer Mazlim Husin said the port has collaborated with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on carbon capture and storage, which could see liquid cargo playing a more important role at the port.
He said Petronas has signed an agreement to lease or sublease about 60 hectares (ha) at Kuantan Port for the development of a terminal.
"We have a collaboration with Petronas at Kuantan Port. There are about 60 ha to be leased or subleased by Petronas from us, in which there's going to be a terminal,” he said during the CEO Panel: Ports and Shipping at the LogiSYM Malaysia 2026 conference recently.
"There will be an importation of liquefied CO2, for example, from Japan. And it will be shipped by special vessel from Japan to Kuantan, and discharged into the Petronas terminal,” he said.
The CO2 will prepared according to required specifications and pressurised before being transported via a 250 km pipeline to be injected into permanent geological storage sites offshore.
Mazlim said Kuantan Port could foresee that the liquid cargo is going to play a significant role in its future cargo mix.
Beyond imported CO2, Mazlim said Kuantan Port could potentially serve emitters from other parts of Peninsular Malaysia through rail connectivity.
Emitters such as steel mills and cement plants could potentially transport liquefied CO2 by rail from the west coast to Kuantan Port before it is injected into permanent geological storage sites offshore, he said.
Mazlim said Kuantan Port is working closely with Petronas, with the project targeted to be sanctioned for the execution phase next year.
"At the moment, we are working very closely with Petronas.
"By next year, we hope we will come to a final decision and hopefully, it's going to work,” he added. - Bernama
