Feel the chemistry

Underneath the port of Antwerp are over 1,000 kilometres of high-pressure pipelines, of which 210 kilometres are owned and managed by Pipelink. Some of these are as much as 60 centimetres in diameter and have a design pressure of up to 100 bar! Our Pipelink pipelines transport as much as 900,000 metric tonnes of gases and liquid chemical products each year. Some impressive figures, for sure. But not half as impressive as the future opportunities that Pipelink is now creating: pipeline transport not only bolsters the position of Antwerp’s energy and chemical industry cluster, but is also essential for the modal shift and energy transition in Europe.

The port of Antwerp lies at the heart of our activities and is also home to Europe’s largest integrated energy and (petro)chemical industry cluster, which is strategically connected to the European hinterland via maritime and logistical connections. Therefore, maritime, industrial and logistical activities go hand-in-hand. Next to the interconnecting pipelines within the port it is also from here that Pipelink connects port-based companies with companies in the Belgian hinterland, including in the Campine and Feluy.

Pipelines will play an ever more important role in improving the interconnections between (petro)chemical industry companies across Europe. Together with its parent company Port of Antwerp-Bruges and other partners, Pipelink is interested in expanding the pipeline infrastructure towards the rest of Europe, particularly the ARRR area (Antwerp-Rotterdam-Rhine-Ruhr). This is a must for both the modal shift and the transition towards a low-carbon society in Europe.

We intend to achieve our European ambitions with the development of multi-user/multi-access networks, across country borders, for products such as e.g. propene, ethene, propane, LPG and naphtha and their future bio or synthetic versions. In this kind of network, firms are not interwoven one-on-one, but multiple users, storage firms, as well as producers are connected to it. This poses a considerable challenge, as various parties and future users need to be brought together to achieve this.

Our expertise and neutrality (Pipelink does not own any of the transported molecules) make us the perfect partner for the expansion of such networks. What is more, our parent company Port of Antwerp-Bruges, as a community builder, has a great deal of experience in forging such consortia. We therefore form an ideal team to take up this role.

Interested in joining our network? Contact Pipelink  and take your place at the table.