ADNOC allocates $15bn to propel its decarbonization efforts by 2030

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has launched a bold new strategy to progress the world-scale decarbonization of its operations.

ADNOC has allocated $15 billion to advance an array of projects across its diversified value chain by 2030. Throughout 2023, a suite of new projects and initiatives will be announced, including a first-of-its-kind carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, innovative carbon removal technologies, investment in new, cleaner energy solutions and strengthening of international partnerships.

Together with the recent formation of the ADNOC’s new Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth Directorate, these represent tangible and concrete action as the company reduces its carbon intensity by 25 percent by 2030 and moves towards its Net Zero by 2050 ambition.

“Under the directives of the UAE’s wise leadership and the ADNOC Board of Directors, ADNOC continues to take significant steps to make today’s energy cleaner while investing in the clean energies and new technologies of tomorrow. Now, more than ever, the world needs a practical and responsible approach to the energy transition that is both pro-growth and pro-climate, and ADNOC is delivering tangible actions in support of both these goals.”

Building on ADNOC’s Al Reyadah facility, which has the capacity to capture up to 800,000 tons of CO2 per year, the company will announce plans to deploy technologies to capture, store and absorb CO2 by leveraging the UAE’s geological properties while preparing for its next major investment to capture emissions from its Habshan gas processing facility.

Combined with ADNOC’s planned expansion of its carbon capture capacity to 5 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2030, the UAE will be firmly established as a worldwide hub for carbon capture expertise and innovation. To date, ADNOC has already delivered test cargoes of low-carbon ammonia to Europe and Asia.

ADNOC’s expansion of its new energy portfolio will largely be delivered through its stake in Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy powerhouse with over 20 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy today and plans to increase its capacity to 100 GW by 2030.

Since January 2022, ADNOC has received 100 percent of its grid power supply from Emirates Water and Electricity Company’s (EWEC) nuclear and solar energy sources, making it the first major company in the industry to decarbonize its power at scale through a clean power agreement of this kind.

ADNOC also concluded a $3.8 billion deal to build a first-of-its-kind, sub-sea transmission network in the MENA region, connecting ADNOC’s offshore operations to the onshore power network, with the potential to reduce ADNOC’s offshore carbon footprint by up to 50 percent.

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