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Aramco hydrogen project engineering nears completion

18 October 2023

Saudi Aramco has nearly completed engineering for its planned Jafurah blue hydrogen plant, according to the company’s chief executive, Amin Nasser.

Speaking at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, he said: “We are close to complete engineering ready to execute the project.”

The timing of when project execution will start remains uncertain due to issues with finding buyers for the blue hydrogen, which is produced from fossil gas with carbon capture.

Nasser said: “The issue is offtake … because the price is high”.

The Aramco CEO said that he believes that the price of green hydrogen is around $400 per barrel of oil equivalent while blue hydrogen is around $200 to $230 per barrel of oil equivalent.

Nasser said that Aramco is still waiting to sign offtake agreements for the project and it is working with clients mainly based in Japan and South Korea.

“I think that as soon as there are government incentives then these customers will start signing the offtake [we can] start our project,” he said. “The issue is affordability.”

The scope of the Jafurah blue hydrogen plant is expected to include:

  • Construction of processing units
  • Construction of storage facilities
  • Construction of distribution units
  • Installation of hydrogen compressors
  • Installation of air compressor
  • Installation of process heater systems
  • Construction of associated facilities

Nasser first said that Aramco was struggling to find buyers for blue hydrogen from the Jafurah project in May this year.

The Netherlands and Germany are offering subsidies for imported green hydrogen, but blue hydrogen is not part of the programme.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/11226714/main.jpg
Wil Crisp

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