The UAE’s Masdar Carbon and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) are set to tender contracts for a carbon capture facility next to the Emirates Steel complex in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi.

Masdar Carbon, the carbon capture and storage arm of the Masdar initiative, and Adnoc have signed commercial principles for the facility and are now drafting head of terms agreements to govern the delivery of the project.

To take the project forward, Masdar will issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the carbon capture and storage facility, which will hold nearly 800,000 tonnes a year of carbon dioxide-rich emissions from the Emirates Steel plant.

The emissions from the Emirates Steel plant, containing 90 per cent carbon dioxide, will be transferred to a common compression and dehydration facility at the project site in Mussafah. It will then be compressed to produce a carbon dioxide stream of more than 98 per cent purity. The gas will travel 50 kilometres through a pipeline network before being injected into an onshore oilfield, which is operated by Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco).

Masdar Carbon and Adnoc plan to develop follow-on carbon capture and storage projects and will use their experience with the Emirates Steel project to inform future projects. A carbon dioxide injection pilot project is already in operation in Abu Dhabi. Data from the facility, which was installed more than two years ago, will support the development of the Emirates Steel facility.