Five agreements were signed for green industry projects at the ongoing two-day Duqm Economic Forum in Oman, Oman News Agency said in a series of Arabic language announcements on messaging platform X (formerly Twitter).

“The government has allocated vast expanses of flat land in the Al Wusta Governorate, near the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), for renewable energy projects, particularly hydrogen production. These sites can easily be connected to the storage and export facilities at Duqm Port or Ras Markaz”, Dr. Ali Al-Sunaidi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (PASEZ) said at the forum.

PASEZ signed an agreement for building a $3 billion green steel project with production capacity of five million tonnes per annum. The project named Vulcan Green Steel is promoted by the India-based Jindal Steel Group.

The authority signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Posco-ENGIE coalition for allocating land in SEZAD for green ammonia and hydrogen derivatives production plant.

The authority also signed a usufruct agreement with Hyport Duqm- a partnership between Belgium based DEME and OQ - allocating a 150-square-kilometre land parcel in SEZAD.

An MoU with Shell Oman was signed for a green and blue hydrogen-cum-carbon dioxide storage project.  The MoU includes preparing a masterplan to explore possible energy investments in the Special Economic Zone.

Another MoU was signed with BP for a green hydrogen plant.

An agreement was also signed with an Omani-Saudi coalition to implement the dualisation the 51-kilometre main road from Duqm Airport to Ras Markaz at a cost of 57.6 million Omani rials ($150 million). The road is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025 and will connect factories in the designated renewable energy zone in Duqm.

(Writing by Sowmya Sundar; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.