Oman awards three projects for USD 20bn in first green H2 auction

June 1 (Renewables Now) - Oman on Thursday signed deals for the development of three projects for green hydrogen production in the Duqm area in the first round of a tender aimed at supporting the sultanate's goal to produce more than 1 million tonnes by the end of the decade.

The three projects will require about USD 20 billion (EUR 18.72bn) in investments and will be built on an area of 960 square kilometres (370.7 square miles) in central Oman.

At a ceremony on Thursday, the first agreement concerning block Z1-01 was signed with Amnah consortium which includes Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Blue Power Partners and Al Khadra Partners.

BP Oman, the local unit of BP Plc, emerged as the winner for block Z1-03 while the consortium of Green Energy Oman (GEO), involving Oman Shell, OQ, EnerTech, Intercontinental Energy, and Golden Wellspring Wealth for Trading, was selected for the development of Block Z1-04.

Hydrom, the state-owned company created to promote the development of the green hydrogen sector in Oman, signed the contracts on behalf of the government.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Hydrom have also signed the head usufruct agreement which grants land rights to Hydrom for the deployment of renewable energy and green hydrogen production.

In addition, Hydrom announced that it is planning to set up an advisory board to oversee the development of utility infrastructure in coordination with the lead developers of green hydrogen projects, national utility operators and developers of green hydrogen infrastructure.

The second round of the tender which will award two to four blocks in Dhofar will be launched in June.