Eng Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals (MEM) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hydrom, a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman SAOC (EDO), signed two new agreements awarding green hydrogen projects in Oman.

The agreements were signed with the winning bidders of the round 1 of Oman green hydrogen auction process during a special event organised by Hydrom under the supervision of MEM.

Following the previous award of three projects earlier this month, Oman has in total awarded five large-scale green hydrogen projects, representing a total investment of more than USD 30 billion and a total production of 750 KTPA.

The total investment in the two newly awarded projects signed with a POSCO-ENGIE consortium and Hyport Duqum is expected to exceed USD 10 billion. The contracts are expected to yield a total production capacity of 250 KTPA from more than 6.5 GW of installed renewable energy capacity at the sites.

POSCO-ENGIE Consortium

The first agreement was signed with the winner of the public auction process. It is a consortium POSCO-ENGIE and consisting of POSCO Holdings, MESCAT Middle East DMCC, Samsung Engineering Co. Ltd., Futuretech Energy Ventures, Korea East-West Power Co. Ltd. and Korea Southern Power Co. Ltd. The consortium is expected to produce more than 200 KTPA of green hydrogen by 2030, utilising over 5.2 GW of combined wind and solar energy to produce and export ammonia. The plant will be built in the Governorate of Al Wusta.

Hyport Duqum

The second project was signed with a consortium Hyport Duqum consisting of the OQ Alternative Energy, and DEME Concessions NV, to produce green hydrogen. The consortium aims to produce more than 50 KTPA of green hydrogen by 2029 in the project’s first phase. The signing of this agreement follows the earlier signing of commercial term sheets in March 2023.

During the event, Hydrom also launched the second bid round of its green hydrogen auction process, which provides companies with the opportunity to submit investment proposals to develop large-scale green hydrogen projects in some of the most attractive locations of the Sultanate of Oman. In Round 2, Hydrom plans to award up to three (3) land blocks in the Dhofar by the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Companies interested in bidding can register through the Hydrom websitehttps://hydrom.om/. In parallel, Hydrom will finalise negotiations with companies with which it had signed commercial term sheets in March 2023, hoping to sign the full agreements before the end of 2023.

Hydrom signed three other agreements earlier this month with the consortia of Amnah, Green Energy Oman (GEO) and BP Oman. The total investment is expected to exceed USD 20 billion. These contracts are expected to yield a total production capacity of half a million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum from more than 11.5 GW of installed renewable energy capacity at the three sites, covering 960 km2 in the Al Wusta Governorate.

Oman’s ambitious plan aims to produce more than 1 MTPA of green hydrogen by 2030 ramping up t 8 MTPA by 2050, with a cumulative investment value of USD 140 billion for the projects.