QatarEnergy said on Sept. 21 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with General Electric (GE) to collaborate on developing a carbon capture roadmap for the energy sector in Qatar. The roadmap includes the development of carbon capture and sequestration, the utilization of hydrogen, and the potential usage of ammonia in GE gas turbines to reduce their carbon emissions.
Under the agreement, both companies will explore the feasibility of developing a world-scale carbon hub at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is home to more than 80 GE gas turbines.
HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, president and CEO of QatarEnergy said the agreement underpins QatarEnergy’s strong commitment to mitigating the effects of climate change.
“This MoU affirms QatarEnergy’s sustainability strategy and our efforts to implement effective measures to curb emissions and produce cleaner energy using the latest proven emissions reduction technologies. We are pleased to work with GE, who is a strategic partner, to pursue all available avenues including the use of clean energy carriers such as hydrogen as a fuel for gas turbines coupled with efficient and affordable carbon capturing technologies from such turbines, on an unprecedented scale, to achieve a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions,” HE Al-Kaabi said.
QatarEnergy has recently updated its sustainability strategy, which outlines multiple initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including flagship programmes such as the further deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technology to capture over 11 million tons per annum of CO2 in Qatar by 2035.
These projects are expected to further reduce the carbon intensity of Qatar’s LNG facilities by 35%, and of its upstream facilities by 25% (compared to previous targets of 25% and 15%, respectively) bolstering Qatar’s commitment to responsibly supply cleaner LNG at scale in support of the energy transition.
Last month, QatarEnergy signed agreements for the construction of the Ammonia-7 Project, which according to the state-owned company, will be the industry’s “first world-scale and largest blue ammonia project.”