Energy Transition

Viking's Cut to Release Packer. (Image source: Viking Completion Technology).

Dubai-based Viking Completion Technology, a leading supplier of well completion equipment and services, has completed a gas storage project in Germany and sees promising opportunities in this growing new energy sector

Viking’s in-house engineering team designed a bespoke 13-3/8” x 9-5/8” (11.600” OD) API 11D1 V0-R Cut to Release Packer suitable for 0-100C temperature range, to address the challenge of the large bore and low-temperature requirements of underground gas storage applications. The specialised packer was then delivered and installed in Germany, the first time the UAE-based team has delivered equipment to Europe’s utilities and energy market.

Viking is looking to build on this success by focusing on gas storage by engaging and supporting new customers in non-traditional energy markets. The company sees potential for a variety of similar projects in Germany, as well as parallel projects across Europe, Oceania, and Asia, aligning with evolving industry trends following an increased demand for suitably validated completion equipment for gas storage applications.

Viking managing director Willie Morrison commented, "As more businesses across the globe focus on energy security and balancing energy demands that vary with environmental conditions, this landscape will continue to expand. Viking is ideally placed to provide the level of excellence and flexibility that these applications and customers require."

Technical Support manager Simon Leiper added, "These projects bring their own unique considerations and challenges. In the past, end users for gas storage applications may have opted for a two-trip completion, utilising a permanent packer and anchor latch, with no validation. Our solution of an API 11D1 V0-R validated Cut to Release packer significantly levels up the specifications and improves operational efficiency, by removing a run, while giving the flexibility to retrieve the completion later.”

CarbonEdge delivers real-time data on CO2 flows across CCUS infrastructure. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Baker Hughes has launched CarbonEdge, powered by Cordant, an end-to-end, risk-based digital solution for CCUS operations that provides comprehensive support for regulatory reporting and operational risk management

With an intuitive, integrated dashboard, CarbonEdge delivers precise, real-time data and alerts on CO2 flows across CCUS infrastructure, from carbon capture and compression to pipeline transportation, as well as subsurface storage. Offering connectivity across the entire CCUS project lifecycle, it enables customers to identify and manage risk, improve decision-making, enhance operational efficiency, and simplify regulatory reporting.

The solution is integrated with Baker Hughes' subsurface and autonomous modelling solutions,  delivering storage site characterisation workflows and comprehensive monitoring and verification (MMV) frameworks.
Applicable to any CCUS infrastructure applied across multiple industries, CarbonEdge is expected to be fast to deploy and easy to scale, ensuring seamless connectivity, data synchronisation and interoperability across various components of the digital ecosystems of Baker Hughes and its customers.

Baker Hughes is working with Wabash Valley Resources (WVR), which produces low-carbon ammonia fertiliser, to further develop the CarbonEdge platform. As a launch customer for this platform, WVR will leverage CarbonEdge to measure monitor and verify the volumes of CO2 collected, transported and sequestered underground.

“CCUS technology solutions are essential for driving decarbonisation of the energy and industrial sectors on our path to solving for climate change,” said Baker Hughes Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli. “With the launch of CarbonEdge, we not only expand our portfolio of digital solutions to support new energies and empower our customers’ ability to mitigate risk while enhancing operational efficiency, but also take a bold step toward a future with more sustainable energy development. We look forward to working alongside Wabash Valley Resources to refine and evolve CarbonEdge, ensuring it continues to meet the dynamic needs of a rapidly changing industry.”

CarbonEdge is the first fully integrated digital offering within Baker Hughes' Climate Technology Solutions portfolio.

The agreement was witnessed by His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. (Image source: ADNOC)

ADNOC has signed an agreement to acquire a 35% equity stake in ExxonMobil's proposed low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Baytown, Texas

The facility is expected to be the world’s largest of its kind upon startup, capable of producing up to one billion cubic feet (bcf) daily of low-carbon hydrogen and more than one million tons of low-carbon ammonia per year. A final investment decision (FID) is expected in 2025 with anticipated startup in 2029. The facility will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across hard-to-abate sectors, including industry, energy and transportation, meet rising demand for lower-carbon fuels, and support both companies' net zero ambitions.

The facility will leverage advanced carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce emissions associated with hydrogen production. The project will also support US job creation and community development initiatives, bringing substantial economic benefits to Baytown, the Houston area and Texas.

Strategic investment

His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC managing director and Group CEO, said, "This strategic investment is a significant step for ADNOC as we grow our portfolio of lower-carbon energy sources and deliver on our international growth strategy. We look forward to partnering with ExxonMobil on this low carbon-intensity and technologically advanced project to meet rising demand and help decarbonise heavy-emitting sectors.”

Darren Woods, ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO, added, “This is a world-scale project in a new global energy value chain. Bringing on the right partners is key to accelerating market development, and we’re pleased to add ADNOC’s proven experience and global market insights to our Baytown facility.”

Breakdown of the share of direct revenue from the sale of CO2 utilisation products. (Image source: IDTech Ex)

Eve Pope, technology analyst at IDTechEx assesses developments in CO₂ utilisation, with the market forecast to grow to US$240bn by 2045

Carbon capture technologies capable of removing CO₂ from industrial emissions have been around for more than 50 years, but widescale deployment of CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation, and storage) has been too slow for global net-zero ambitions. While governments are beginning to implement carbon pricing mechanisms or tax credits to motivate permanent storage of CO₂ deep underground, a profitable business model exists beyond CO₂ sequestration via emerging CO₂ utilisation applications. According to the new IDTechEx research report, Carbon Dioxide Utilization 2025-2045: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players, sales from CO₂ utilisation will directly generate US$240bn in revenue in 2045.

Carbon dioxide utilisation technologies recycle captured CO₂. The new carbon-containing products can be sold to generate financial benefits while offering a reduction in carbon footprint. The leading destination of captured carbon dioxide today is enhanced oil recovery. However, there are many emerging areas of CO₂ recycling, including CO₂-derived concrete, CO₂-derived fuels (methane, methanol, kerosene, diesel, and gasoline), CO₂-derived chemicals, and CO₂ yield boosting applications (crop greenhouses, algae, and proteins).

Profitable production

Profitable production of CO₂-derived polymers has been around for decades. The total annual production capacity of polycarbonate resin using CO₂ utilisation technology has now reached about 1 million tonnes. Other essential plastics, such as polyethylene and PET, are starting to be made from CO₂ via thermochemical and biological conversion routes, with LanzaTech leading microbial innovation in this space. Drop-in chemicals such as CO₂-derived ethanol and aromatics are also being commercialised.

While potentially all carbon-containing chemicals could utilise carbon dioxide in production, those requiring non-reductive pathways are the most promising due to a smaller energy demand and lack of dependency on low-carbon hydrogen production. The IDTechEx report explores synthesis routes for chemical companies to use waste CO₂ as a green feedstock, displacing petrochemical products.

Decarbonising the aviation and shipping sectors

To date, alternative fuels have not achieved price parity with fossil fuels, inhibiting market uptake. However, increased market penetration of CO₂-derived fuels is expected to come from regulations already being put in place, such as fuel-blend mandates for long-haul transportation. As green hydrogen electrolyzer capacity scales up worldwide, production of e-fuels from carbon dioxide using power-to-x technology will also increase. These fuels are expected to play a role in decarbonising shipping and aviation as full electrification of the aviation and maritime sectors is currently unfeasible.

Several CO₂-derived fuels are already being commercially produced with many more commercial facilities expected over the next decade. The start of 2024 saw Mitsui and Celanese’s joint venture Fairway Methanol become operational, joining plants from Carbon Recycling International in producing over 100,000 tonnes per year of methanol made from captured CO₂. Other hydrocarbon fuels such as kerosene, diesel, and gasoline, which can be made via methanol or syngas intermediates, are also being ramped up. For example, Infinium’s Corpus Facility opened its doors this year, expected to produce thousands of tonnes per annum of CO₂-derived e-fuels.

CO₂-derived concrete

CO₂ utilisation can lower the carbon footprint of ready-mixed concrete, precast concrete, and carbonate aggregates/supplementary cementitious materials through CO₂ mineralisation reactions. Players already utilising over 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year in carbonates include O.C.O Technology and Greencore.

When CO₂ is permanently stored in concrete, performance is improved, and less cement is needed. Growth of CO₂-derived building materials will be driven by new certifications, superior materials performance, and the ability to achieve price parity through waste disposal fees and the sale of carbon credits.