Saudi Aramco Signs MoUs with US Firms to Advance Lower-Carbon Solutions
RIYADH: In a significant move towards developing lower-carbon solutions, energy giant Saudi Aramco has signed Memorandums of Understanding with three US firms – Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo.
The agreements were signed in the presence of the Kingdom’s Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, and US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm at a ceremony that marked a new era of cooperation between the two countries.
Following discussions on carbon management, clean hydrogen, nuclear energy, electricity, renewables, innovation, and energy-sector resilience, the MoUs aim to propel the development of innovative technologies that could revolutionize the energy industry.
Ali Al-Meshari, senior vice president of technology, oversight, and coordination at Aramco, stated, “Aramco is committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is exploring opportunities to establish a lower-carbon energy business. The technologies offered by Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo have the potential to make a global impact, particularly in the Middle East.”
The collaboration with Aeroseal involves the deployment of their technology in Aramco’s building fleet, joint testing of building ductwork, and exploration of new applications such as gas pipelines, following a successful trial in Saudi Arabia.
With Spiritus, Aramco is looking into direct air capture solutions to address cost challenges, while the agreement with Rondo focuses on deploying heat batteries in Aramco’s facilities to reduce operating costs and support emissions reduction initiatives.
Initial engineering studies have commenced for an industrial-scale deployment of Rondo Heat Batteries, with the potential to significantly reduce emissions from Aramco facilities, setting the stage for future scalability up to 1 gigawatt per hour.