Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC begins work on new carbon capture and storage project

Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC has commenced work on a project to inject carbon dioxide in a saline aquifer.

The project, which is “the world’s first fully sequestered carbon dioxide (CO2) injection well in a carbonate saline aquifer,” marks another important step in ADNOC’s commitment to decarbonise its operations and reduce its carbon intensity by 25 per cent by 2030, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The project, which is expected to begin injecting carbon dioxide in Q2 2023, will support ADNOC’s carbon capture and storage programme.

Once operational, the project will initially fully sequester a minimum of 18,000 tons per year of carbon dioxide captured from Fertiglobe’s UAE operations for injection in Abu Dhabi’s onshore carbonate aquifers.

The CO2 injection well project builds on ADNOC’s experience with its carbon capture facility at Al Reyadah, which can capture up to 800,000 tons of CO2 per year, the statement added.

The Abu Dhabi-based company said that “the well location for CO2 injection as well as targeted geological formations were identified using the results of ADNOC’s extensive 3D seismic survey and the company’s state-of-the-art subsurface modelling capacity.”

“Carbon capture and storage will play an important role in reducing emissions and achieving global climate goals, and ADNOC is building on its leadership position in this area as we continue to drive decarbonisation across our operations,” said Yaser Saeed Almazrouei, ADNOC upstream executive director.

“At Al Reyadah, ADNOC deployed the region’s first carbon capture project at scale and we are taking another tangible step to deliaon our $15bn decarbonisation action plan with the world’s first fully sequestered CO2 injection well.”

The project will contribute to the production of lower-carbon ammonia, which is an effective hydrogen carrier. It is the latest in a series of decarbonisation initiatives, including an agreement for ADNOC to acquire 100 per cent of its grid power from the Emirates Water and Electricity Company’s (EWEC) nuclear and solar sources.

This month, ADNOC announced that it had allocated $15bn (Dhs55bn) to advance many projects across its diversified value chain by 2030.

Read: ADNOC earmarks $15bn for low-carbon solutions and decarbonisation tech

Additionally, ADNOC reached financial close on a $3.8bn deal last year to build a MENA sub-sea transmission network, connecting its offshore operations to TAQA’s clean onshore power network. Once complete, the project could reduce offshore carbon intensity by up to 50 per cent.

Read: ADNOC, Taqa close $3.8bn deal to decarbonise offshore operations