Armed with investment From Oman Investment Authority & Mubadala, Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. (Crusoe) has announced its expansion plans in the Middle East.
This is a form of clean computing infrastructure that reduces both the costs and the environmental impact of the world’s expanding digital economy. By unlocking stranded sources of energy to power crypto, cloud and data centre, Crusoe is looking at a technology that reduces emissions.
With the investment, Crusoe is expanding its Digital Flare Mitigation technology to the Middle East to help reduce flaring in the region. This investment will power Crusoe’s efforts to expand internationally as it works to align the future of computing with the future of the climate, the company said in a statement.
Oman Investment Authority (OIA) is Oman’s sovereign wealth fund, and it is entrusted with managing, investing, and developing the Sultanate’s national and international assets. It has diverse investment portfolios both nationally and internationally, whereby it invests in over 40 countries across various sectors including food, energy, logistics, ICT, public services, finance and investment, food security, tourism, mining, industry, and aviation.
Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi. Mubadala’s $284 billion (AED 1,045 billion) portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. The financing was part of Crusoe’s $350m Series C round of funding that was led by climate technology investors G2 Venture Partners.
This funding propels the expansion of Digital Flare Mitigation internationally and accelerates the launch of CrusoeCloud, the company’s High-Performance Computing (HPC) cloud offering powered by carbon-reducing energy sources. To complement its investment, OIA also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Crusoe to further advance sustainability opportunities for Oman by cooperating on new Digital Flare Mitigation technologies.
Digital Flare Mitigation
Crusoe Energy Systems has pioneered a unique solution that provides shale oil and gas companies with an effective, reliable, and cost-free alternative to routine flaring by leveraging a technology that harnesses stranded methane to enable energy-intensive computation.
Collectively, the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region accounted for over 38% of the global flaring in 2020, Oman accounted for approximately 1.8% or 2,517 million m3, while the United Arab Emirates accounted for approximately 0.7% or 955 million cubic meters (m3) of gas.
With its track record of large-scale Digital Flare Mitigation deployments in the U.S., Crusoe’s technology can mitigate waste from flaring in the MENA region to reduce the environmental impact from traditional energy providers. Chase Lochmiller, CEO and co-founder of Crusoe Energy Systems said:
“Flaring is a global problem with a global impact. We’re excited to expand our Digital Flare Mitigation technology to the Middle East to help solve the region’s long-standing flaring challenges, while also empowering a new generation of digital technology in the region. OIA and Mubadala stand out as great partners that take a long-term view on tackling big problems.”
Ismail Al-Harthi, Senior Manager – Technology Investments at OIA and CEO of Innovation Development Oman said:
“We are proud of the pioneering role we played in bringing this technology to the region, which is home to some of the biggest oil and gas producers globally. We strive to be at the forefront of the adoption of innovative technologies, and the Digital Flare Mitigation technology presents us with a great opportunity to improve the environmental performance of Oman’s existing energy production industry. Crusoe’s inventive use of natural gas flaring to propel innovation enables continued diversification of Oman’s economy.”
In addition to its work with Oman, Crusoe’s collaboration with Mubadala will create an impact in furthering innovation and sustainability in Abu Dhabi. Ibrahim Ajami, Head of Ventures and Growth at Mubadala said:
“Our responsibility as a global investor is to enable capital to drive innovation and impact. We are focused on backing visionary founders building enduring technology companies around the world. The company’s technology captures energy that is otherwise wasted and flared during energy production to reduce the cost of cloud computing. This is fundamental in a world desperate for clean energy solutions and an increasing global demand for data.”
Impact
Crusoe’s 98 Digital Flare Mitigation data centre have prevented an estimated 2.5 billion cubic feet of flaring and achieve up to 99.89% elimination of methane emissions, whereas flares typically emit a significant amount of uncombusted methane. Their deployed fleet of flare-eliminating data centre have a capacity to reduce CO2-equivalent emissions estimated at 650,000 metric tons per year, comparable to removing approximately 140,000 cars from the road.
