ADNOC and the National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), announced a breakthrough in the first project in the Gulf region to harness geothermal energy following the conclusion of testing on two geothermal wells at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.
The landmark project is set to decarbonise the cooling of buildings in Masdar City, further diversify the UAE’s energy mix and support the UAE National Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to grow renewable energy capacity to 14 GW by 2030.
The project is enabled by ADNOC’s initial $15 billion allocation towards low carbon solutions and will support its decarbonisation plan and net zero by 2045 ambition as well as the Abu Dhabi Climate Change Strategy and UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative.
The wells produced hot water at temperatures exceeding 90 degrees celsius (oC) and flow rates of approximately 100 liters per second (l/s). The hot water generated by the heat from the wells will now pass through an absorption cooling system to produce chilled water, which will then be supplied to Tabreed’s district cooling network at Masdar City, accounting for 10% of its cooling needs.
Currently, the cooling of buildings accounts for the majority of the UAE’s electricity consumption. District cooling offers a sustainable alternative to traditional cooling methods as it is around 50% more energy efficient in its standard operations. Leveraging geothermal heat for district cooling operations has the potential to significantly reduce electricity demand for cooling from the grid, helping to decarbonise one of the most energy intensive sectors in the region.
ADNOC is pioneering the development of geothermal energy in the UAE, which can provide a supply of clean baseload energy for electricity generation. Building on the success of the project, ADNOC is also working with several companies to maximise the contribution of geothermal energy in the UAE using the latest drilling and power generation technologies.
