ADNOC Advances Net Zero Plan Target from 2050 to 2045

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), on Monday announced that it was accelerating its decarbonisation plan to bring forward its net zero ambition to 2045, from its previous target of 2050, and to achieve zero methane emissions by 2030. ADNOC is the first company in its peer group to accelerate its net zero target to 2045.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the ADNOC Board of Directors at ADNOC Headquarters, which was chaired by H H Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

These new targets mark a new chapter in ADNOC’s transformational journey to a lower-carbon future. The company has placed sustainability at the heart of its long-term strategy, including investing in renewables, building a global hydrogen value chain, deploying innovative climate technology solutions, and advancing nature-based solutions such as planting mangroves in the UAE.

Building on its legacy as a responsible global energy pioneer, ADNOC is set to increase investments in and double down on its decarbonization efforts, backed by an initial $15 billion allocation to low-carbon solutions.

In 2022, ADNOC’s upstream carbon intensity performance was ~7 kgCO2e/boe as it responsibly contributed to meeting growing global energy demand. Furthermore, its industry leading methane intensity was ~0.07%, and the company was awarded the Gold Standard Pathway by the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0.

Additionally, in 2022 ADNOC achieved greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of ~4mt by using grid energy from solar and nuclear power to supply 100% of its onshore operations as well as ~1mt from energy efficiency and flaring reduction projects. These results, independently assured by DNV*, place ADNOC in the top tier of lowest carbon intensity oil and gas producers in the world.

ADNOC’s Key Role

ADNOC is a key enabler of the UAE’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which raises the ambition of the UAE’s nationwide emissions reduction ambition to 40% by 2030. The company is also playing an important in supporting the UAE’s recently updated Energy Strategy 2050, its new National Hydrogen Strategy and Abu Dhabi’s Climate Change Strategy.

ADNOC’s allocation of $15 billion is all set to expedite the implementation of its key decarbonization initiatives, including carbon capture and storage, electrification, energy efficiency and nature-based solutions. Over the coming months, ADNOC will announce further investments and associated projects that will enable it to meet its updated ambitious decarbonization targets.

ADNOC will drive the global growth of renewable energy and green hydrogen through its shareholding in the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (MASDAR, which is a leading renewable energy company, targeting a portfolio of more than 100 GW of renewable capacity and the production of 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.

ADNOC’s decarbonisation plan includes a $3.8 billion, first-of-its-kind at scale, project connecting its offshore operations to clean grid power, which will reduce its offshore carbon footprint by up to 50%. It also includes building a 1 million tonnes per annum low-carbon ammonia production facility to help ADNOC’s customers decarbonize.

This year, ADNOC started two pilot projects to deploy leading climate technologies to capture and permanently store carbon dioxide (CO2) as part of its plan to expand its carbon capture capacity to 5 million tonnes per annum by 2030.

The innovative pilots build on ADNOC’s industry leading carbon capture and storage facility, Al Reyadah, which became the world’s first commercial scale operation to capture emissions from the steel industry when it was completed in 2016. The facility, with the capacity to capture 800,000 tonnes of CO2, has played a pivotal role in advancing carbon capture technology and reducing emissions from industry.

ADNOC has also announced earlier to plant 10 million mangroves by 2030 and last year, the company planted 200,000 mangrove seeds using drone technology with the aim to aerially plant a total of 2.5 million mangrove seeds over three years. To date, ADNOC has planted more than two million mangrove seedlings across Abu Dhabi. The company’s efforts support the UAE’s aim to plant 100 million mangroves by 2030.