Oman Signs First Major Green Hydrogen Deals

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Oman's state-owned Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) has signed a series of green hydrogen deals with leading developers worth roughly US$20 billion in investment.

Hydrom, which is a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman and overseen by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM), was formed last year to kickstart a massive push into the burgeoning green hydrogen sector. Deals were signed with six companies and groups, including Green Energy Oman (GEO), BP's (NYSE:BP) (London, England) Alternative Investment division and Green Hydrogen and Chemicals, owned by India's ACME Group. In all, six umbrella projects are planned near the ports in Duqm, central Oman, and Salalah in the south. They are estimated to be able to produce more than 700,000 tonnes of green hydrogen for the domestic market and export. This, in turn, will involve the addition of 15 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity. Industrial Info is tracking 37 hydrogen projects in Oman worth just over US$20 billion in value. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the report.

Salim Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals Engineer, stated that the signing of the binding commercial terms sheets with the first green-hydrogen project developers was a "significant step" in the country's journey towards decarbonization and achieving net zero emissions by 2050. "While these agreements are the first evidence of our success towards carbonization, we look forward to signing more agreements once the results of Hydrom's first public auction round are in."

Abdulaziz Al Shidhani, Director General of Renewable Energy and Clean Hydrogen at Oman's Ministry, said the signings were a "milestone" in delivering Oman's green hydrogen plan of being able to produce 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030. "Today we witnessed key developers from Oman, the U.K., Belgium, Japan, India, Oman, Kuwait, Singapore, and the Netherlands making commitments."

Prior to this, Shidhani outlined the scale of the proposed plans: "Oman aims to become one of world's leading green hydrogen hubs" with the goal of unlocking US$140 billion of investment across the value chain covering the manufacture of solar panels, wind turbines, electrolysers, hydrogen-derived products, storage and transportation, water desalination and other components. He said that Oman's investments alone will encompass about 3 million solar panels, approximately 10,000 wind turbines, 5,200 electrolysis units and about 180 GW of renewable energy production capacity.

Earlier this year, Shell took a 35% stake in one of the leading developers that signed deals with Hydrom, Green Energy Oman. The group envisages building 25 GW of renewable energy in solar and wind power for the creation of green hydrogen. It is centered around a massive complex that will be located in the Al Wusta region of central Oman. The goal is to produce 1.8 million tonnes of green hydrogen and up to 10 million tonnes of green ammonia annually. Green Energy Oman is majority owned by Oman's state-owned oil company, OQ (Muscat, Oman).

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