BP acquires 49% stake in Oman’s Hyport Duqm green hydrogen project

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MUSCAT: Energy major BP is acquiring a 49-per cent stake in Hyport Duqm, a gigawatt-scale green hydrogen and green ammonia project planned for implementation at Duqm in the southeast of the Sultanate of Oman.

An announcement to this effect came in BP Group’s financial results for the first half of 2024, published on Tuesday, July 30, 2024.

Importantly, BP is also assuming operatorship of the project, which is on track to rank among the first crop of large-scale green molecule projects globally that are slated to be operational before 2030.

“On June 13, BP signed an agreement with OQ and Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV (DEME) to acquire a 49-per cent stake and operatorship in the Hyport green hydrogen project in Duqm, Oman, subject to regulatory approvals, which could produce around 57,000 tonnes per annum of green hydrogen,” the energy giant stated in its financial report.

OQ is the integrated energy group of Oman, wholly owned by Oman Investment Authority (OIA). Its Alternative Energy arm (OQ AE) is a pivotal player in Oman’s green hydrogen industry, with interests in a number of the giga-scale green molecule schemes currently in the early stages of development in Oman.

Hyport Duqm was among the first to sign agreements with Omani authorities aimed at establishing an export-oriented renewable hydrogen scheme in Duqm. Spearheading the project from the outset were the partnership of Belgian-based DEME Concessions and OQ AE.

Hyport Duqm is being developed on an area of 150 km² within the Special Economic Zone at Duqm. The production of green hydrogen to green ammonia will be powered by both wind and solar energy, with a combined capacity of around 1.3 GW under Phase 1 and potentially more than 2.7 GW on completion of Phase 2.

The first phase of the project, which is part of Oman’s ambitious green energy targets (Vision 2040), is set to produce approximately 330,000 tonnes of green ammonia.

The Project Development Agreement (PDA) signed with Hydrom, the orchestrator of Oman’s green hydrogen industry, grants Hyport Duqm a 47-year licence to develop and operate the project.

Hyport Duqm is among eight green hydrogen projects that have signed firm agreements with Oman’s authorities to date with a goal to achieve an annual production capacity of around 1.38 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen by 2030. Total investments in the projects are estimated at $48 billion.

In June last year, BP had signed a separate project development and land use agreement with Hydrom for a potential 150,000 tonnes a year green hydrogen project near Duqm.

“The project is currently in the concept development stage, and we continue to progress our data collection campaign using LiDARs (light detection and ranging devices), solar stations and met masts,” said BP Oman in its 2023 Socioeconomic Review published earlier this year.