MUSCAT: Hydrogen Oman SPC (Hydrom), a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman SAOC (EDO), signed agreements linked to the award of country’s first green hydrogen blocks targeting with total investments exceeding $20 billion.

 

Eng Salim bin Nasser al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hydrom, shared the following during the event: “We are delighted to witness the signing of these agreements. Today, with the completion of the regulatory framework, sector structure and these first investment opportunities, we officially announce the beginning of the Sultanate’s production journey in accordance with the directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.”

 

The first agreement names the ‘Amnah’ consortium as the winner of the state’s first public auction bid and entails the development of a green hydrogen plant to supply 200 kilotonnes per annum (KTPA) of green hydrogen from 4.5 GW of installed renewable energy capacity within Block Z1-01.

 

Output from this project will support, among other consumers, green steel plants in the Port of Duqm.

 

The consortium consists of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), Blue Power Partners (BPP) and Al Khadra, part of Oman’s Hind Bahwan Group.

 

The second and third agreements were part of the ‘Legacy Initiatives’, which are green hydrogen projects that were signed prior to the establishment of a clean hydrogen regulatory framework in the country. The first of these was signed with BP Oman for the development of green hydrogen for ammonia production and export with an expected annual production of 150 KTPA of green hydrogen from 3.5 GW of installed renewables capacity within Block Z1-03.

 

The second of these was signed with the Green Energy Oman (GEO) consortium for the development of green hydrogen solely for ammonia export with an expected annual production of 150 KTPA of green hydrogen from 4 GW of installed renewables capacity within Block Z1-04. The GEO group includes Oman’s integrated energy company OQ, Shell Oman, Kuwait's state-backed energy investor EnerTech (ETC), InterContinental Energy (ICE) and Golden Wellspring Wealth for Trading (GWWT).

 

All three projects, located in Al Wusta Governorate, are expected to produce half a million tonnes of green hydrogen per year, utilising a total area of 960 km2.

 

The projects are expected to start production by 2029, according to an official at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

 

Moreover, Hydrom and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals signed a head-usufruct agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning to provide land rights to Hydrom for the purposes of renewable energy and clean hydrogen projects in accordance with the Royal Decree 10/2023, which was issued on February 16.

 

“This step reinforces Oman’s stable investment environment and global position in renewable energy development and is in line with the government’s objectives to stimulate investment in the green hydrogen field. Oman has allocated over 50,000 km2 in the governorates of Al Wusta and Dhofar for green hydrogen projects to be awarded in stages,” said Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, Dr Khalfan bin Said al Shueili.

 

Hydrom also announced the formation of an advisory board to oversee the development of shared utilities infrastructure, which will include major developers of green hydrogen projects in the country, national utility operators and global green hydrogen infrastructure developers.

 

As a result, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to establish a partnership between parties involved within the green hydrogen pipelines development, between Hydrom and the OQ Gas Networks, the owner and sole operator of Oman's natural gas transportation network.

 

Additionally, Energy Development Oman (EDO) announced the signing of a Research and Development MoU with Siemens Energy. Chief Executive Officer of EDO, Eng Mazin bin Rashid al Lamki, shared that the scope of the MoU will focus primarily on green electricity generation.

 

“What we're trying to do is accelerate our ability to reduce the cost of power generation in the green hydrogen projects. As you probably know, maybe 70 or 80 per cent of the cost of producing a kilogramme of hydrogen comes from generating power. But it is also a reflection of the power needed from the electrolysers to convert the water to green hydrogen,” he said.

 

Al Lamki added: “Therefore investments in R&D in technology development are going to be pivotal in further reducing the cost, helping, not only these projects, but even the world, and providing a solution that is going to be comprehensive in nature.”

 

The Sultanate of Oman has set a target of producing one million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030, and 8 million tonnes by 2050, as part of its plan to achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050.

 

An award for a second green hydrogen block could be announced within this month, according to Ministry officials.

 

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