Page 6 - AsiaElec Week 26 2022

AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec

ADNOC, Aramco up the ante on

hydrogen fuel carriers

COMMENTARY As momentum continues to build around the the commencement of 200,000 tpy of supplies
expansion of the nascent hydrogen sector, the from the UAE.
key issue facing its growth is the functionality of The announcement comes as the UAE seeks to
the supply chain – specifically how to transport control around a quarter of the global low-car-
the element safely, cheaply and globally. While bon hydrogen market by 2030 and its sights are
the conflict in Ukraine has had a significant firmly set on Asian consumers. Japanese firms
impact on short and medium-term dynamics in Idemitsu, Inpex and Itochu last year received
oil and gas markets, mid-century net zero tar- blue ammonia cargoes while Mitsui and South
gets and concerns about the sustainability of the Korean firm GS Energy invested in a 1mn tpy
use of batteries in the transportation sector will blue hydrogen project in the TA’ZIZ chemicals
necessitate major investment. complex, part of ADNOC’s Ruwais Derivatives
Keen to maintain their position of strength in Park.
this new area, Middle East state oil firms have However, as in oil, the Emirati firm will face
been at the forefront of efforts to come up with stiff competition for these markets from its
a solution to the supply chain dilemma that will southern neighbour, with Saudi Aramco already
allow them to continue to leverage world-class active in the same space and seeking to establish
hydrocarbon reserves while remaining relevant the same “pre-eminent” position it holds in
to consumer nations that are looking to address crude supply. To achieve this, the company has
long-term environmental concerns. been investing throughout the value chain.
Against this backdrop, Abu Dhabi National
Oil Co. (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco have been Ammonia for transport
investigating routes to market – predominantly Amogy, which has received backing from Saudi
in Asia – through memoranda of understanding Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV), South Korea’s
(MoUs), studies and pilot projects. SK Innovation, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund,
Earlier this month, ADNOC signed up to AP Ventures and Newlab, closed a bridge fund-
a joint study with two Japanese firms for the ing round in which it received $46mn, taking its
export of hydrogen in the form of methylcy- total funding to nearly $70mn since it was estab-
clohexane (MCH), while a start-up part-funded lished in 2020.
by Saudi Aramco this week raised funding for The company labels itself “a pioneer of
the commercialisation of ammonia-to-power emission-free, energy-dense ammonia power
technology. solutions” and after “recent successful demon-
strations of the first ever ammonia-powered,
ADNOC ambition zero-emission farming tractor and aerial drone”
The scope of ADNOC’s project with Japan’s Mit- it will use the bridge round funds “to accelerate
sui and its biggest refiner ENEOS covers studies the commercialisation of its energy-dense power
for the development of a 200,000 tonne per year solution that will decarbonise heavy-duty trans-
(tpy) blue hydrogen supply chain connecting the portation and enable leading cargo and fleet
two countries, leveraging MCH as a carrier. owners to eliminate fossil fuels and reduce emis-
While Japan has already committed to acquir- sions from their supply chain”.
ing, and receiving, hydrogen from the UAE, the Responding to questions via social media,
new project seeks to establish a deeper con- Amogy said it had “developed a compact,
nection. They will work to verify technical and high-efficiency reactor that cracks ammonia
engineering elements of a 50,000 tpy hydrogen onboard and uses hydrogen to generate power
production and carry out a feasibility study for through a fuel cell”.
the potential expansion of the plant to reach Its CEO, Seonghoon Woo, explained: “The
commercial production of 200,000 tpy. These problem the company is solving is basically the
processes will take around 12 months, following problem of the battery,” noting that while bat-
which the parties will also consider timelines for teries are a good solution for small modes of

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 29•June•2022