28 March 2018, Dubai, UAE — Samsung Engineering Co., a major South Korean engineering company, has won contracts worth $3.5 billion from the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to process crude oil and build power generation facilities, the government said.
The Samsung affiliate signed two contracts with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNO) refining subsidiary during President Moon Jae-in’s visit to the Middle Eastern nation to step up closer bilateral economic ties, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said.
The first contract worth $3.1 billion will allow the Ruwais refining plant to process a wider variety of crude oils with increased efficiency. Once completed by the end of 2022, the largest oil refinery in the UAE will be able to process up to 420,000 barrels of crude per day.
The second project worth $473 million aims to recover power and water at the Ruwais oil refinery. It will generate an additional 230 megawatts of electricity and 62,400 cubic meters of fresh water daily by capturing waste heat and upgrading gas turbines, the ministry said.
Ruwais oil refinery in the United Arab Emirates is shown in this photo provided by Samsung Engineering Co., a major South Korean engineering company, on Feb. 9, 2018. (Yonhap) Ruwais oil refinery in the
On Tuesday, Moon attended a ceremony to celebrate the completion of the UAE’s first nuclear power plant, a joint project between the two nations under a $20 billion deal signed in 2009.
The UAE’s first reactor is technically ready to start operation this year or early next year, while three others are due to go online by 2020. The combined output of 5,600 megawatts at the power plant will supply up to 25 percent of UAE’s electricity needs.
During Moon’s four-day official visit, the two nations signed five memoranda of understanding to expand cooperation in the nuclear power and renewable energy and semiconductor industries, the energy ministry said.
The two nations also agreed to step up a collaboration for joint nuclear projects in other countries by combining South Korea’s nuclear expertise and UAE’s funding capacity, it said.
