Aramco Signs MoUs with Leading American Companies

Dhahran, The Gulf Observer: The Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco) today announced the signing of three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with prominent American companies to foster the development of potential lower-carbon energy solutions. The signing ceremony was attended by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al Saud, Minister of Energy for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy.

The MoUs were signed with Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo, focusing on innovative technologies aimed at reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy efficiency.

Aeroseal: Following a successful trial of Aeroseal’s technology in Saudi Arabia, Aramco and Aeroseal agreed to accelerate the deployment of Aeroseal’s technology across Aramco’s building fleet and other locations. The partnership will also involve joint testing of building ductwork and envelopes nationwide, commercialization of the technology for applications such as gas pipelines, and localization of Aeroseal’s supply chain in Saudi Arabia.

Spiritus: Aramco and Spiritus will explore opportunities in direct air capture, leveraging Spiritus’ novel approach to significantly reduce the costs and energy needs associated with current methods. This includes passive air collection and a proprietary sorbent material that could potentially increase adsorption efficiency up to tenfold compared to existing technologies.

Rondo: Aramco and Rondo plan to deploy heat batteries in Aramco’s global facilities to reduce operating costs and support emissions reduction initiatives. Engineering studies are already underway for the first industrial-scale deployment of Rondo Heat Batteries, which aim to contribute to emission reductions from Aramco’s operations, with plans for subsequent scale-up to 1GWh.

Ali A. Al-Meshari, Senior Vice President of Technology, Oversight & Coordination at Aramco, commented, “Aramco has stated its ambition to achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its wholly-owned operated assets by 2050, and sees opportunities to potentially build a lower-carbon new energy business. Innovative technologies deployed at scale can help reduce the costs of reducing carbon emissions, and we are investing in developing these through our R&D, venture capital, and technology deployment programs. We see the technologies of Aeroseal, Spiritus, and Rondo as having the potential to scale globally, and specifically in the Middle East.”