The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company or ADNOC has announced the acquisition of a 10.1% stake in UK-based carbon dioxide capture and storage project developer and solution provider Storegga.
Acting as the lead investor in Storegga’s fourth funding round, the transaction represents the Shariah compliant entity’s first international equity investment in carbon management.
The national oil company received its Shariah compliant status in 2019 and has since issued its shares several times through Shariah compliant IPOs, the most recent of which was completed in May last year. The USS$769 million Islamic IPO drew US$125 billion in orders.
The investment in Storegga was enabled by ADNOC’s US$15 billion initial allocation for low-carbon solutions and decarbonization technologies, which it announced on the 5th January this year, three days prior to the closing of the equity investment.
“…ADNOC will fast-track significant investments into landmark clean energy, low-carbon and decarbonization technology projects. As we continue to future-proof our business, we invite technology and industry leaders to partner with us, to collectively drive real and meaningful action that embraces energy transition,” Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC’s managing director and group CEO, commented. Dr Sultan is notably also the UAE’s minister of industry and advanced technology.
As part of ADNOC’s targets for its carbon management portfolio, it is hoping to have a carbon capture capacity of 10 million tons per annum by 2030.
ADNOC’s existing sustainability portfolio includes Masdar, a joint project with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company or TAQA and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Company. The project is targeting to generate 100 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity and up to one million tons of green hydrogen production by 2030.
The other parties that took part in the Storegga funding round include GIC, which was established to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves, and Macquarie.
“This funding round will enable further progress across our portfolio including the Acorn and Cromarty Hydrogen projects in the UK, Trudvang in Norway and Harvest Bend in Louisiana,” Nick Cooper, CEO of Storegga, shared.