New carbon capture and utilisation plant starts up in Saudi Arabia
Industrial, medical, and specialty gases providers Gulf Cryo and Petro Rabigh have announced the inauguration of a new carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) facility located in the Kingdom’s Western Region
The result of a 20-year strategic partnership, the project is believed to be the first carbon capture plant in Saudi Arabia’s western region dedicated to the merchant market and the second in the Kingdom.
Capable of capturing 300 metric tonnes of CO2 per day. The captured CO2 will be purified to a high-purity, food-grade level by Gulf Cryo and transported in liquid form for re-use. Petro Rabigh will utilise part of the CO2 stream internally.
Several other industries across the Kingdom are also set to benefit, with water desalination and mineralization, food preservation and transport cooling, agriculture, beverage carbonation, and ready-mix concrete also expected to receive some CO2.
Gulf Cryo designed, constructed, and operated an advanced carbon capture plant at Petro Rabigh’s Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG) plant, which is located at the Red Sea town of Rabigh, north of Jeddah.
Abdul Salam Al Mazro, Vice-Chairman of Gulf Cryo, said, “This landmark project anchors our leading position in CCUS solutions in the region and marks our first carbon capture project in the Kingdom.”
“It underscores the importance of managing the full CO2 value chain; we reduce emissions at source while utilising the recovered CO2 as a vital resource to help decarbonise the supply chains of various industries.”
By preventing the release of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, the project supports Saudi Arabia’s target of Net Zero emissions by 2060 under Vision 2030 and aligns with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Othman Al-Ghamdi, President and CEO of Petro Rabigh, said, “Taking meaningful action to cut our carbon footprint is a strategic priority for Petro Rabigh. Through this pioneering initiative under our strategic partnership, we are demonstrating an unwavering commitment to significantly reducing emissions over the long term.”
