With the world progressively shifting in the direction of cleaner power, Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) is leveraging new applied sciences to decarbonise its operations simply in need of three many years from now.

In 2020, the group was the primary nationwide oil firm in Southeast Asia to declare its goal of reaching web zero carbon emissions (NZCE) by 2050, aiming to cut back emissions throughout its enterprise.

PETRONAS Senior Vice-President of Project Delivery and Technology Datuk Bacho Pilong says the group is dedicated to delivering its mandate, which is to safeguard and handle the nation’s hydrocarbon assets responsibly, stating that the group has made important progress for the reason that introduction of PETRONAS Carbon Commitments in 2012.

“We are well aware that there’s a lot to be done to meet this target, and the clock is ticking. Indeed, we are in a race to decarbonise and are intensifying efforts to reduce emissions across the enterprise in line with our NZCE 2050 targets,” he provides.

PETRONAS’ decarbonisation efforts depend on 4 levers, the primary being zero routine flaring and venting. The group has carried out three flare discount initiatives and one vent discount challenge for its upstream enterprise, specifically within the Kinabalu and Bintulu built-in amenities, the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal, and Dulang.

The second lever is banking on its power effectivity, with the group harnessing the facility of knowledge, analytics and synthetic intelligence (AI) to optimise power use. In whole, these two levers resulted in a discount of 0.62 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equal (tCO2e) in 2022, says Bacho.

Besides these initiatives, PETRONAS can be counting on a 3rd lever — electrification — which incorporates acquiring 90MW of hydroelectric energy import from Sarawak Energy Bhd’s subsidiary Syarikat SESCO Bhd for the PETRONAS LNG Complex (PLC) in Bintulu, accounting for 40% of the advanced’s energy.

The fourth lever is carbon seize and storage (CCS), during which the group seems to accomplice with know-how suppliers to seize CO2 and inject it into deep geological formations for everlasting safe storage.

Bacho factors to Phase 2 of the Kasawari Gas Field challenge, which will likely be one of many largest offshore CCS initiatives on this planet when it comes onstream in 2026.

“This project is not only crucial for PETRONAS but also for the rest of the world for delivering lower-carbon LNG, which is recognised as a transition fuel,” he says, including that the group has been creating options supporting CCS for a few years, reminiscent of applied sciences to de-risk storage integrity, enhance fuel separation and minimise corrosion.

PETRONAS’ first CCS challenge is to seize and retailer CO2 emissions from the Kasawari Gas Field. Among different cutting-edge applied sciences, the challenge entails greater than 10 in-house improvements developed proper at PETRONAS’ analysis hub in Bangi.

According to Dr Khairul Rostani, Manager (Technology Programme), Project Delivery and Technology at PETRONAS, in-house improvements, such because the award-winning membrane contactor know-how, are very important in capturing CO2 emissions from furnaces and thermal oxidisers, which usually account for as much as 65% of emissions from the asset’s operations.

“This membrane contactor technology is a novel technology we developed with our partners. It is specifically designed for us to capture the CO2 from our onshore operations,” he explains, highlighting that this specific resolution is extra compact and prices 30% lower than standard options.

The captured carbon will then be both transformed into beneficial merchandise reminiscent of methanol, or injected into depleted fuel fields, reminiscent of M1, which acts as a storage website, with the primary injection slated for 2026. Once in operation, annual flaring emissions from Kasawari are anticipated to be lowered by 3.3 million tCO2e.

PETRONAS’ personal carbon seize and utilisation applied sciences, CryoMin and Precipitated Calcium Carbonate, had been recognised internationally once they bagged the Developing Economies Energy Company of the Year award on the prestigious ADIPEC Awards 2023 just lately.

Going ahead, the group plans to undertake CCS for its excessive CO2 fields and can be exploring the event of CCS worth chains — a possible new supply of development for PETRONAS.

Beyond these initiatives, PETRONAS can be taking a look at inexperienced hydrogen as a vital element of its power transition journey via its clear power subsidiary Gentari Sdn Bhd, which goals to provide as much as 1.2 million tonnes of inexperienced hydrogen yearly by 2030.

Bacho says hydrogen is a vital various power supply to enrich fuel and renewables, highlighting a number of of Gentari’s partnerships to speed up the adoption and improvement of hydrogen applied sciences.

“Under a collaboration with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), we developed a high-efficiency proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser to produce green hydrogen at a much lower cost. It is the first commercial hydrogen electrolyser made in Southeast Asia,” he explains.

“We are in several collaborations as a technology provider to actively support Sarawak’s hydrogen aspiration, including the state’s multifuel stations and the upcoming Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART).”

To date, PETRONAS, via Gentari, has a variety of ongoing collaborations with international companions and clients to develop low-carbon hydrogen initiatives regionally and overseas, which embody the event and transport of inexperienced hydrogen, advocacy of coverage and laws to assist the hydrogen business, and research on a low-carbon ammonia provide chain.

Green mobility is one other space of focus for Gentari, which goals to seize a ten% share of public electrical automobile (EV) charging factors and the vehicle-as-a-service market throughout key international locations in Asia-Pacific. As at August 2023, greater than 340 Gentari charging factors had been put in, with greater than 1,400 EVs deployed beneath its vehicle-as-a-service providing.

Besides that, additionally it is constantly scaling up its renewable power (RE) capability, concentrating on to realize 30GW to 40GW of put in capability by 2030 to serve business, industrial and retail clients. Currently, Gentari has 2GW of RE capability in operations and beneath improvement globally.

PETRONAS’ initiatives to decrease its emissions align with the worldwide shift in the direction of cleaner power, in addition to Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) unveiled in July, which goals to determine a low-carbon pathway and nationwide power combine to cut back emissions by way of CCS and hydrogen integration, in addition to biomass and waste-to-energy options.

Collaboration between stakeholders is crucial to strengthen innovation ecosystems the place individuals, options and platforms can advance organically to assist a simply power transition, says Bacho.

He factors to the Race2Decarbonise international hackathon hosted by PETRONAS — a platform for people and organisations to submit their concepts that may scale back emissions within the areas of stationary combustion, flaring and venting, in addition to fugitive emissions related to the group’s operations.

The initiative drew over 1,500 concepts and submissions in three months, spurring innovation amongst people, start-ups and companies, reflecting the worth of collaboration in addressing the local weather problem.

“Nations in Asia, tackling the energy trilemma in their respective unique context, can turn challenges into opportunities when we leverage each other’s strengths and resources through strategic collaborations,” says Bacho.

“Through collaboration, we hypercharge innovation, attract investments to power up the green economy and build the necessary talent pipelines and ecosystems. We are charging ahead in energy transition for the ‘amanah’ we are entrusted with, the country and future generations.”