Qatar policies 'supportive' towards achieving CO2 reduction targets: GE Gas Power executive

Qatar has supportive policies that include carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction targets directed at carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), noted Gagan Porwal, GE Gas Power head (International Market Partnerships).
The country is among promising locations globally to develop active CCUS hubs, Porwal said and noted: “Qatar has several unique advantages that make it ideal for CCUS projects in general and carbon hubs in particular.”
In a recent interview with Gulf Times, Porwal said: “The country has large natural gas reserves, which provide abundant feedstock for blue hydrogen production. It has optimal design of industrial areas which allows for a homogenous CO2 flows and optimal concentration levels that are critical to designing an efficient capture hub. It has a favourable geology, with saline aquifer formations that appear ideal for CO2 storage.
“The existing pipeline infrastructure can be leveraged to transport CO2, given its proximity to CO2 producing facilities. This can reduce CCUS project costs by reducing complexities around transportation.”
According to Porwal, the Ras Laffan Industrial City is an “ideal location for a world-scale carbon hub” for several reasons.
First, it is home to more than 80 GE gas turbines, and to major LNG trains and power plants, all of which provide for a benefit of proximity, homogeneity, and consistent volume flows for building a capture hub that can truly operates as a central emissions reduction entity creating a template for the other such regions to follow and learn from.
“At the same time, the hub is in close proximity to near oil and gas fields, which can be ideal for storing CO2. As government pushes for its ambition for CCS, we expect to see encouraging development on this side of the equation as well complemented by existing infrastructure, including pipelines,” said Porwal, who recently spoke at the CCUS Forum in Doha, where he provided his perspective on how regional and international co-operation can support the development of CCUS.
Co-located in Ras Laffan, there are other heavy industry facilities that generate carbon for capture or can benefit from the low-carbon electricity generated by power plants in the industrial city with CCUS.
GE with its capabilities on integration, control systems and being original equipment manufacturer of these power generation assets is bringing its unique capabilities that positions for implementation of carbon capture system with potential of optimum cost and maximum performance.
With carbon capture, Qatar has decades of experience and expertise dealing with hydrocarbons and has access to depleted wells and deep saline aquifers that can unlock the most critical element of carbon capture called storage, he said.
On the ‘Decarb MoU’ GE signed with QatarEnergy, Porwal said the MoU aims to accelerate collaboration to develop a carbon capture roadmap for the energy sector in Qatar.
The roadmap includes the potential development of carbon capture and sequestration, the utilisation of hydrogen, and the potential usage of ammonia in GE gas turbines to reduce their carbon emissions.
The focus is to explore the feasibility of developing a world-scale carbon hub at Ras Laffan Industrial City, which as of today, is home to more than 80 GE gas turbines. It is in line with QatarEnergy’s Sustainability Strategy and the efforts to reduce emissions and produce cleaner energy using the latest technologies.
“We at GE will pursue all available avenues including the use of clean energy carriers such as hydrogen as a fuel for gas turbines and carbon capturing technologies from such turbines. Exploring pre- combustion technologies such as the use of low carbon fuels to generate power, and post combustion technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration, can potentially significantly reduce the CO2 emissions from QatarEnergy’s facilities,” he said.