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Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman (EDO), has signed term sheets with developers for six green hydrogen projects worth more than $20 billion.
The term sheets were signed with BP Alternative Energy Investments (for projects in Duqm and Dhofar); Green Energy Oman (GEO); Green Hydrogen and Chemicals (owned by India-based ACME); Hyport Duqm consortium and SalalaH2 consortium.
The statement said the six projects would require an installed capacity of approximately 15 gigawatts of renewable energy in Oman and total expected investments of around $20 billion, including shared infrastructure.
It said the projects are expected to produce over 700,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, which would be supplied to local industries and processed into energy carriers for export.
The signing of the term sheets and its commercial terms complies with the Royal Decree 10/2023 issued on 16 February 2023 stipulating a clear process to structure clean hydrogen projects and directing the method of land allocation on principles of equal opportunity, fairness, and equitability for developers and acknowledging the role of Legacy Initiatives (agreements signed before the issue of the regulatory framework by Ministry of Energy and Minerals).
The Minister of Energy and Minerals, Salim Al Aufi, said: “We are delighted to sign these binding commercial term sheets with the first green hydrogen projects developers in our journey towards decarbonization. The Sultanate of Oman has taken several bold steps following His Majesty’s endorsement of the Net Zero target by 2050. 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.”
Director General of Renewable Energy and Clean Hydrogen at the Ministry, Abdulaziz Al Shidhani, added: “Today’s milestone is another step to deliver on Oman’s green hydrogen strategy announced on 23 October last year. We witnessed today commitments made by key developers coming from Belgium, Japan, UK, Netherlands, India, UAE, Kuwait, Singapore, Germany, and Oman”.
Firas Al Abduwani, acting Managing Director of Hydrom, said: “Legacy Initiatives have followed Hydrom’s process since its inception and agreed to the main commercial principles set out in the public auction, which enables fair and transparent allocation of lands. We look forward to closing the final forms of agreements soon with our partners. We will also begin with our bid evaluation process on the public auction to deliver our promise to the Government”.
Hydrom launched its first public auction round for lands in November 2022 and expects to receive bids by March 15th, followed by the announcement of the winners towards the end of April 2023.
“Oman is delighted to see the Legacy Initiatives sign the agreements, which are the result of long and hard work from both sides and marks an important milestone for Oman as a leading green hydrogen hub,” said Mazin Al Lamki, CEO of Energy Development Oman, the parent company of Hydrom.
(Writing by Anoop Menon; Editing by Bhaskar Raj)
