14 DAY TRIAL // Renewable energy company Masdar and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have recently teamed up, and are now getting ready to implement the Middle East's first carbon capture and storage project.
Together, the two companies have offered a $122.5 million (€91.16 million) engineering, procurement and construction contract to Dodsal Group, and entrusted it with the construction of both a carbon dioxide compression facility and a pipeline measuring some 50 kilometers (80.5 miles) in length.
Business Green details that, once said facility and pipeline are built, carbon dioxide will be captured at Emirates Steel, i.e. the largest steelmaker facility in the United Arab Emirates, and then transported to oil fields presently operated by ADNOC.
Once there, the carbon dioxide will be pumped in the underground. Masdar and ADNOC explain that this measure will yield two major benefits: first off, it will help keep the atmosphere clean; secondly, it will enhance oil recovery.
“The implementation of this technology is a demonstration of Masdar and ADNOC’s commitment to decarbonising the UAE’s growing economy. We are proud to be pioneering the use of CCUS technology in the region, a critical strategy to reduce global carbon emissions,” said H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar.
Furthermore, “We hope this project will serve as a proof of concept and encourage other hydrocarbon-rich nations to adopt similar technologies to reduce their carbon emissions.”
“By capturing, using and storing the CO2, we not only cut down on emissions, but add opportunities for increasing our oil and gas production, which can be sold internationally or used for domestic energy generation,” added H.E. Al Suwaidi on behalf of ADNOC.
Should things go as planned, the carbon dioxide compression facility and the pipeline will become operational in 2016. Once this happens, Masdar and ADNOC estimate that about 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide will be captured and stored in the underground on a yearly basis.