Adnoc Refining, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Eni, and OMV, is set to complete the first phase of its  waste heat recovery (WHR) project at the General Utilities Plant in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, before the end of the year.

Started in 2018, the $600-million project will recycle waste heat generated from the plant to produce up to an additional 230 MW of electricity per day – enough to power thousands of homes. It will also produce 62,400 cu m of distilled water per day for use in the plant, said Adnoc Refining.

Phase One of the project, which includes the operation of two new boilers and turbines, will be completed before the end of the year, while Phase Two, which includes a further two boilers, will be completed around the middle of 2023, it added.

Overall, the project will increase power production and thermal efficiency at the plant by around 30 per cent with no additional carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, it stated.

Adnoc’s waste heat recovery project is designed to capture exhaust heat from the gas-powered turbines at Adnoc Refining’s General Utilities Plant, which is currently vented into the atmosphere, to produce steam that is subsequently used for power production.

Adnoc Refining said the waste heat recovery project is one of several strategic initiatives to decarbonise Adnoc's operations and builds on the company's heritage of responsible environmental stewardship.

In the last 12 months, Adnoc has announced partnerships to decarbonise its operations at scale, with up to 100 per cent of the company's grid power being supplied by clean nuclear and solar energy sources and the first-of-its-kind, sub-sea transmission network in the Mena region, which will connect the group's offshore operations to clean onshore power networks.