The MoU, which was signed during the World Future Energy Summit (WEFS), sets out a strategic agreement between the two governments for the sharing of research and evaluation and analysis on non-confidential CCS projects and technologies.
CCS works by capturing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial sources, thus preventing their release into the atmosphere, and permanently storing these underground in geological structures such as oil reservoirs.
Dr Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, said: ”Masdar is committed to developing partnerships with global energy organisations, such as the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Energy, to test and prove efficient, commercially scalable sustainable energy solutions that can be replicated globally.
”The importance of developing CCS technology cannot be underestimated. Global warming is directly related to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; therefore, it is imperative that we work with other leading energy organisations to develop cost effective processes for the capture and storage of C02.”
Ed Stelmach, premier of Alberta, said: ”The province of Alberta is rich in energy and mineral resources including natural gas conventional oil, oil sands, petrochemicals, electricity and coal.We understand well the importance of CCS and are delighted to have signed this agreement with Masdar, which like us, is committed to reducing carbon emissions both locally and globally through the management of clean fossil fuel power and greater industrial energy efficiency.”
Masdar is developing a CCS project to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and industrial facilities and then transport it via a UAE-wide pipeline network for injection into Abu Dhabi’s oil reservoirs for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). The first phase of the project is currently in the front-end engineering and design stage and upon completion in late 2014 will capture 5 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
