In a significant move towards advancing low-carbon energy solutions, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) announced the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with prominent American companies.
The agreements, aimed at fostering the development of potential lower-carbon technologies, were formalized Friday in the presence of HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al Saud, the Minister of Energy for Saudi Arabia, and Jennifer Granholm, the US Secretary of Energy.
The MoUs involve collaboration with Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo, focusing on innovative solutions to reduce carbon emissions and enhance energy efficiency.
Aeroseal Collaboration: Aramco’s partnership with Aeroseal follows a successful trial of its technology in Saudi Arabia. The agreement outlines plans to accelerate the deployment of Aeroseal’s technology across Aramco’s building fleet and other areas. Additionally, the two companies will jointly test building ductwork and envelopes nationwide to identify key opportunities, commercialise the technology for novel applications such as gas pipelines, and localize Aeroseal’s supply chain within Saudi Arabia.
Spiritus Partnership: With Spiritus, Aramco aims to explore advancements in direct air capture technology. Spiritus’ innovative approach could address the cost challenges associated with current direct air capture methods by reducing energy needs, utilizing passive air collection, and employing a proprietary sorbent material. This material has the potential to enhance carbon removal from the atmosphere with up to ten times the adsorption efficiency of existing methods.
Rondo Agreement: Aramco and Rondo will explore the deployment of heat batteries within Aramco’s global facilities to lower operating costs and support emissions reduction efforts. The companies are conducting engineering studies for the initial industrial-scale deployment of Rondo Heat Batteries, which could significantly reduce emissions from Aramco facilities, with plans for further scaling up to 1 GWh.
Ali A. Al-Meshari, Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Technology, Oversight & Coordination, emphasized the company’s commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly-owned operated assets by 2050. He highlighted the importance of innovative technologies in reducing carbon emissions costs and expressed confidence in the global scalability of the technologies from Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo, particularly in the Middle East.
“Innovative technologies deployed at scale can help reduce the costs of reducing carbon emissions, and we are investing in developing these through our R&D, venture capital, and technology deployment programs. We see the technologies of Aeroseal, Spiritus’, and Rondo to have the potential to scale globally, and specifically in the Middle East,” Al-Meshari stated.
