UAE’s ADNOC, Masdar collaborates with Microsoft to drive AI deployment, low-carbon solutions

ADNOC and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) announced the signing of a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Microsoft on a range of artificial intelligence (AI) and low-carbon initiatives in the UAE and globally aimed at decarbonising the energy system of today and enabling a sustainable energy system for the future.

As part of the SCA, the companies will evaluate opportunities to power Microsoft’s data centres with renewable energy through Masdar, which ADNOC is a shareholder in. They will also explore opportunities to use AI to advance carbon capture and storage projects as well as low-carbon ammonia and hydrogen projects.

Furthermore, the SCA will explore opportunities to accelerate AI deployment across ADNOC’s operations to enhance efficiencies, drive methane reduction initiatives aligned to the Oil & Gas Decarbonisation Charter to achieve near zero methane by 2030, minimise emissions and strengthen biodiversity monitoring to better protect the environment.

The agreement follows the release of the Powering Possible: AI and Energy for a Sustainable Future report, co-authored by ADNOC, Masdar, and Microsoft. This report and the ENACT Majlis, a CEO gathering of over 70 world leaders in technology, energy and investment held on the eve of ADIPEC, call for greater collaboration between the technology and energy sectors to harness the power of AI to accelerate the energy transition.

AI solutions are enabling ADNOC’s Net Zero by 2045 ambition and its target to achieve near-zero methane emissions by 2030. Between 2022 and 2023, the company’s AI tools abated 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and generated $500 million (AED1.84 billion) in value in 2023.