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Oman expects to complete its national hydrogen feasibility study by the end of this year, a senior official at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) told Zawya on the sidelines of a virtual event on Tuesday.
PDO’s Corporate New Technology Officer Dr Khalil Al Hanashi, said: “The National Hydrogen Feasibility Study is expected to be completed by year-end, but we are seeing promising momentum for hydrogen projects even before the study is completed.”
Companies have already announced more than 25 gigawatts (GW) of green hydrogen projects in Oman, he said.
Last month, Omani energy giant OQ in partnership with Kuwait’s EnerTech and Hong-Kong based InterContinental Energy had announced a 25 gigawatt (GW) green hydrogen project, five times larger than the upcoming 5GW green hydrogen project in Neom in Saudi Arabia.
In March, India’s Mint newspaper reported that the country’s largest pure-play solar platform Acme Solar Holdings signed an MoU with The Oman Company for the Development of the Special Economic Zone at Duqm to invest $2.5 billion in green ammonia and green hydrogen plant in Duqm, Oman.
In July 2020, Zawya had reported that Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas along with Ejaad and other strategic partners were studying opportunities for developing the Sultanate’s green hydrogen sector.
Policy changes
Hanashi said Oman is contemplating many policy changes to enable the growth of the green hydrogen industry.
“A key enabler would be to allow the sector to have bilateral agreements whereby green hydrogen producers can consider selling directly to consumers of green hydrogen. It doesn’t have to go through the current system whereby a single company buys and sells electricity. This would be an enabler for trading between the producer and the industrial user,” he said.
“Another area we are looking at is energy spot market… where anybody having excess power can sell it directly. This could enable more renewables development. To go into hydrogen business, you need to have sizable renewables development”, he said.
Policy changes, land allocation and allowing trading of green energy are the pillars for promoting hydrogen business, he said.
The virtual event was hosted by National Young Professionals Committee, a non-profit organisation established in 2018 under the supervision of the Ministry of Oil and Gas, Sultanate of Oman. It aims to be a platform for knowledge exchange in the energy industry.
(Writing by Sowmya Sundar; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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