Carbon capture: Key to the future of energy in the Middle East and Africa
Yasin Kasirga
July 07, 2025
3 min read
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The two major challenges in today’s energy landscape are electrification and decarbonization*. While we all support the rapid expansion of renewable energy, the scale of emissions from the power sector—combined with growing electricity demand and the critical role of electrification—points us toward a single, urgent imperative: we must reduce emissions from the power sector to help meet global climate goals. In other words, the sector must significantly cut its carbon intensity.
Understanding how electricity flows makes one thing clear: achieving climate targets requires an extremely flexible power system—one capable of integrating high shares of variable renewable energy sources. Grid resilience is absolutely essential to ensure reliable power delivery worldwide while creating the capacity to deploy even more renewable energy.
To meet these challenges, carbon capture technology plays a vital role, alongside other innovations. According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), carbon capture is expected to contribute to about one-sixth of cumulative emissions reductions needed to advance net-zero targets. This technology benefits a range of applications—from hard-to-abate industries to low- or zero-carbon fuel production and power generation—by capturing CO₂ instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. It enables us to manage emissions, support economic transformation, and move toward a more sustainable future.
In power generation, carbon capture can be applied to both new and existing gas power plants, helping to reduce CO₂ emissions throughout a plant’s lifecycle. A great example is the Net Zero Teesside (NZT) Power project in the UK, where we’re working as part of a consortium. NZT Power is expected to be the world’s first commercial-scale gas-fired power plant with integrated carbon capture, aiming to capture up to 2 million tons of CO₂ annually. It aims to deliver lower-carbon, flexible, dispatchable power—the equivalent energy required to power approximately one million homes in the UK.
The technology is already here. GE Vernova is advancing solutions such as our Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system, which helps reduce the overall cost of carbon capture while improving plant performance and emissions.
And there’s more to come—as we move toward a world that is both electrified and decarbonized.
* Decarbonization as used in this article is intended to mean the reduction of carbon emissions on a kilogram per megawatt hour basis.
Yasin Kasirga
Middle East and Africa Decarbonization Leader
Yasin is a pivotal leader in the Carbon Solutions business of GE Vernova for the Middle East and Africa. He is instrumental in guiding strategies and driving initiatives that support customers in navigating the current energy landscape by focusing on establishing decarbonization pathways and strategies, assessing the monetization potential of low-carbon and no-carbon fuels, and structuring innovative solutions using existing and emerging technologies. His expertise aims to achieve tangible results in reducing and mitigating carbon emissions effectively and swiftly.
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