Oman picks two green hydrogen projects for USD 11bn in tender

The signing ceremony between Hydrom, EDF Renewables Middle East, J-POWER and Yamna for a 2.5-GW green hydrogen project in Oman. Image by Hydrom

Oman has selected two large-scale projects for the development of green hydrogen production plants in the region of Dhofar worth USD 11 billion (EUR 10.26bn) in investments as part of the second round of the Sultanate's green hydrogen tender.

Hydrom, the state-owned company created to accelerate the development of the green hydrogen sector in the country, said today it has signed an agreement with a consortium of EDF Renewables, Japan's J-POWER (TYO:9513) and UK-based YamnaCo for the development of a 2.5 GW hydrogen plant. The project will target the production of around 178,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. The electrolyser will be powered with 4.5 GW of wind and solar energy coupled with battery storage.

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The hydrogen produced will be supplied to an ammonia plant slated for construction in the Salalah Free Zone, which is set to produce 1 million tonnes of green ammonia annually.

The second winner in the round is a team of investment firm Actis and Australia's Fortescue with a project targeting up to 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. The plan involves the deployment of up to 4.5 GW of wind and solar energy. The output of the plant will then be sold to local industrial offtakers as well as processed into derivatives such as green ammonia for export via the Port of Salalah.

These two projects are expected to boost green hydrogen production in the Sultanate to 1.38 million tonnes annually by 2030.

The second round of the tender was initiated last June, offering three blocks in Dhofar, southern Oman, for the establishment of green hydrogen production plants. The winners in the competition were supposed to be announced at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

In the first round, the Sultanate inked agreements for green hydrogen initiatives within the Duqm region, in central Oman, with a combined investment estimated at some USD 30 billion. The land allocations secured for hydrogen production in the initial tender phase are expected to propel Oman towards its target of generating at least 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen by the end of this decade.