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UAE's energy firms launch first carbon capture project in Mideast and North Africa

Xinhua, November 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Two United Arab Emirates (UAE) companies announced on Saturday they launched the first commercial-scale carbon capture, utilisation storage (CCUS) facility in the Middle East and North Africa.

The energy research and investment company Masdar and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), both government-controlled entities, said the CCUS facility "is now operational and aims to sequester up to 800,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year."

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC CEO and Chairman of Masdar, officially unveiled the facility on Saturday morning accompanied by a delegation of senior government and industry officials.

"The launch of this project in the region further demonstrates the UAE's global energy leadership, and its ongoing commitment to advancing the industry through the application of innovative technology," said Al Jaber.

With its construction started in July 2013, the project is one of the only 22 large-scale CCUS ventures, either in operation or under construction worldwide, and the first to capture carbon dioxide from iron and steel works.

"This project will realize more productive use of natural gas, whether for power generation or as petrochemicals feedstock, or for export," the CEO added. "It also unlocks another potential revenue stream in the industrial sector, encouraging a wider application of commercially viable CCUS technologies globally."

The announcement stressed the CCUS technology now deployed in Abu Dhabi will free up more natural gas for electricity generation, water desalination and other industrial uses while enhancing oil recovery.

"Investment in such technology is an investment in helping the world mitigate the impacts of climate change," said Al-Zeyoudi, the Minister of UAE's Climate Change and Environment. Endit