Oman inks deals for USD 20bn of green hydrogen projects

March 15 (Renewables Now) - Oman has signed binding commercial term sheets for six green hydrogen projects worth about USD 20 billion (EUR 18.62bn) in investments as the sultanate seeks to become a leading green hydrogen hub.

The projects will be developed by BP Alternative Energy Investments Ltd, Green Energy Oman (GEO), ACME's Green Hydrogen and Chemicals SPC, the Hyport Duqm consortium and the SalalaH2 consortium.

The plants will be located near the ports in Duqm, central Oman, and Salalah in the south and are expected to produce more than 700,000 tonnes of green hydrogen for the domestic market and export. This will require about 15 GW of renewable energy capacity.

The contracts were signed between the developers and Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), the state-owned company that was created last year to accelerate the development of the green hydrogen industry in the sultanate. Under their terms, the companies have seven years to develop and build the facilities and then operate the production sites for a period of 40 years after their commissioning.

Abdulaziz al Shidhani, who heads the Directorate General of Renewable Energy and Hydrogen at the energy ministry commented that the six deals are a milestone in Oman’s green hydrogen strategy that was announced last October and targets annual output of about 1 million-1.25 million tonnes by 2030.

"While these agreements form the first testimony of our success towards decarbonization, we look forward to signing more agreements once we receive the results of the first public auction round that is currently being conducted by Hydrom”, said energy minister Salim Al Aufi.

In the first hydrogen auction, Oman is offering two blocks with an area of 320 sq km (123.6 sq mi) each in Duqm for green hydrogen projects. The deadline for submitting bids is March 15 and the winners will be announced towards the end of April.

A second round of the auction will be launched in the course of this year with the request for qualification (RfQ) expected in June.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.931)