The first stage of ADNOC Refining’s ground-breaking Waste Heat Recovery project at the General Utilities Plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, is about to be finished.

According to the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative, ADNOC produces some of the least carbon-intensive petroleum in the world and is further aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity by 25% by 2030.

The Waste Heat Recovery project is one of several strategic initiatives to decarbonize ADNOC’s operations and builds on the company’s heritage of responsible environmental stewardship. This includes significant accomplishments like the establishment of the region’s first commercial-scale Carbon Capture and Underground Storage facility in 2016 and the adoption of a zero regular gas flaring policy in the early 2000s.

The Waste Heat Recovery project, which cost $600 million and began in 2018, will reuse waste heat from the plant to generate up to 230 MW more of energy each day, enough to power hundreds of thousands of households.

Before the end of the year, phase one of the project, which involves the operation of two new boilers and turbines, will be finished, and phase two, which involves the addition of two more boilers, will be finished around the middle of 2023.

Abdulla Ateya Al Messabi, CEO of ADNOC Refining said: “At ADNOC Refining we are committed to finding innovative ways to improve the efficiency and sustainability of our operations. The Waste Heat Recovery project will revolutionize power and water generation at our plant in Ruwais and is vital to the ongoing expansion of Ruwais as part of ADNOC’s 2030 smart growth strategy.”

ADNOC Refining is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Eni, and OMV.