Page 11 - MEOG Week 26 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG

Aramco anticipates major

role in blue hydrogen

SAUDI ARABIA STATE-OWNED Saudi Aramco this week alongside the Japan’s Institute of Energy Eco-
spoke of plans to be a major player in the emerg- nomics (IEEJ) last year. In September, Aramco
ing blue hydrogen market, though it reiterated shipped its first cargo of blue ammonia to Japan
that it does not anticipate significant growth in to be used in zero-carbon power generation.
the sector until the end of the decade. The 40-tonne shipment was generated by
During an interview with Bloomberg TV, Aramco and was made in collaboration with
chief technology officer Ahmad al-Khowaiter Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC)
said: “We’re going to have a large share” of the and IEEJ.
market. However, reiterating views aired during Aramco said that during the process of gen-
a company event in February, he added: “The erating the ammonia, it had captured 50 tonnes
scale-up isn’t going to happen before 2030. We’re of carbon dioxide (CO2). Thirty tonnes will be
not going to see large volumes of blue ammonia used in methanol production at SABIC’s Ibn-
before then.” Sina facility, with the remainder to be used in
This aligns with comments the company’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) at Aramco’s ‘Uth-
CEO Amin Nasser made during its latest earn- maniyah field.
ings call, when he said that Aramco would be In a presentation, Aramco said that the pro-
heavily involved in the sector, but it would hold duction of blue ammonia had spanned the entire
off on making investments until the supply chain value chain, supporting the company’s recent
had started to develop. Khowaiter reiterated this claims of investing in the circular economy.
sentiment, saying: “From the time you make Natural gas was taken from ‘Uthmaniyah and
clear off-take agreements, you’re talking about a converted to hydrogen at a dedicated facility in
five- to six-year capital cycle to invest in the pro- Jubail, with the CO2 captured at a nearby facility
duction and conversion requirements … You’re and returned to ‘Uthmaniyah and sent to Jubail
talking about a pretty long timescale.” Methanol Plant. Nitrogen was added to the
In February, he had said that Aramco doesn’t hydrogen at the Jubail Ammonia Plant to cre-
“see much growth in [the] market until 2030, ate blue ammonia, which was then dispatched
when the infrastructure and policies will be in by sea to Japan, where it will be separated and
place. We think Japan and South Korea will be used to power the 50-kW Koriyama micro gas
where the first hydrogen trading markets will turbine, the 2-MW Yokohama gas turbine and a
begin in the end of 2020s, early 2030s.” co-firing boiler in Aioi.
With that said, the exec anticipates that Ara- For Aramco, he said, “it is a natural progres-
mco may spend around $1bn to capture carbon sion to take on the responsibility for the huge
for every 1mn tonnes of blue ammonia it pro- demand for hydrogen. But we need to invest in
duces, excluding the cost of gas production. carbon capture and sequestration technologies
The company has already dipped its toe … We are looking to diversify our portfolio to
into the emerging market with a pilot project include zero-carbon products.”™

Week 26 30•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11