Oman

Oman country flag
GH2 Country Portal – Oman

Green Hydrogen Vision

The Government of Oman aims to derive 30% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030, as one of the objectives of Oman Vision 2040 and the National Energy Strategy (April 2022). On the other end, natural gas, which has long been a key to its economic growth, is dwindling, with close to 10 to 20 years of supply left.

Oman stands to benefit from renewable sources of energy including green hydrogen. With immense solar radiation, and wind speed coupled with adequate land, easy access to water and free zones for manufacturing, Oman is well placed to transition to a green hydrogen economy.

Oman is looking to cement its position as a regional leader in the emerging green hydrogen sector and has established a state-owned entity, Hydrogen Development Oman to manage its expanding list of planned projects.

National Strategy

According to the Head of the Directorate General of Renewable Energy and Hydrogen at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, a National Energy Plan setting out a strategy for the exploitation of renewable resources, with the specific accent on green hydrogen, will soon be launched.

In August 2021, The Ministry of Energy and Minerals established a national alliance for green hydrogen (named as Hy-Fly). This 13-member alliance of public and private sector is in lines with Oman’s plan for energy diversification under Oman Vision 2040, to position the Sultanate of Oman on the global map of major green hydrogen producing nations in the region.

Given, the rising number of green hydrogen projects in the country, the government is coming up with a state owned company, Hydrogen Development Oman (HDO). It will be a subsidiary under Energy Development Oman (EDO).

Additionally, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals is in the process of appointing a think tank to promote Oman as a hub for production and export of green hydrogen (June 2022).

Capacity and Price targets

  • Oman plans to produce 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030. The target is from 32,500 to 3.75 million tonnes per year by 2040 and from 3.5 to 8.5 million tonnes per year by 2050.
  • Oman aims to expand its green energy capacity to 1 GW by 2025 and reach 10 GW by the end of the decade.
  • According to a report of Oxford Analytica, The Sultanate of Oman aims to achieve 30 gigawatts of electrolyser capacity by 2040.

Impact Targets

According to the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), green hydrogen could create between 34,000 and 147,000 jobs.

Project Spotlight

  • HyPort Duqm: The high-profile project is a partnership from December 2021, between OQ, Germany’s Uniper and Belgium’s DEME, which aims to build a green hydrogen/ammonia facility at Duqm, powered by 1.3GW of renewable energy with wind and solar plants. It is planned within the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Sezad) in an area of about 150 square kilometres and will operate a 500 MW electrolyser to produce an estimated 60,000 metric tonnes per annum of green hydrogen. This will yield 330,000 metric tonnes per annum of green ammonia for export. A final investment decision (FID) on Hyport Duqm is slated during 2023, with Phase 1 of the project targeted for start-up in 2026.
     
  • SalalaH2: Announced in October 2021, the project was announced for the coastal city of Salalah by co-developers OQ, industrial gases company Linde and the Dubai Transport Company. About 1GW of wind and solar will power a 400MW of electrolysers, which will feed an existing ammonia production plant owned & operated by OQ (the plant currently relies on gas as a feedstock). A $1 billion is being invested by the companies towards this.
     
  • ACME: Indian renewables developer ACME won a $3.5 billion bid in August 2021 to build one of the world’s largest green ammonia projects at Oman’s Port of Duqm, using hydrogen electrolysers powered by 3GW of solar and 500MW of wind power. The full-scale plant would produce about 900,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually.
     
  • BP Project: Earlier in January 2022, Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals signed a strategic framework agreement with the British energy giant, BP to deliver a multiple-GW renewable energy and green hydrogen project by 2030. BP will capture and evaluate solar and wind data from 8,000 sq. km of land.
     
  • Worley Project: In April 2022, Green Energy Oman (GEO), an international consortium, has approached Worley to support their support their 25-gigawatt (GW) solar and wind powered green hydrogen Project. The overall project aims to produce over 1.8 million tons of low-carbon green hydrogen which can produce up to 10 million tons of green ammonia per annum, supporting the local economy and global markets.

Financing

  • No exact figure has been set out by the government in particular for the green hydrogen economy.
  • A number of green hydrogen projects have been announced, including the $3.5 billion for the ACME project, $1 billion each by the consortium of partners for the HyPort Duqm and the SalalaH2 projects.

Government Green Hydrogen Lead

Ministry of Energy and Minerals

Minister: Salim bin Nasser bin Said Al Aufi