According to the International Energy Agency, Oman has the largest low-emission hydrogen project pipeline in the Middle East area, with an ambitious goal of exporting one million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. (IEA).
“Oman has the potential to produce hydrogen using renewable resources. According to Dr. Abdullah al Abri, consultant and Oman’s representative at the Paris-based IEA, the sultanate will have the largest pipeline of low-emission hydrogen projects in the Middle East by 2030. He made this statement during a presentation at the recently held Green Hydrogen Summit Oman 2022.
On the basis of the current export pipeline, the IEA forecasts that 12 million tonnes of low-emission hydrogen may be exported annually by 2030.
By 2030, Oman may export 61% of all the hydrogen produced in the Middle East, according to Abri.
By 2030, the sultanate hopes to create one million tonnes of green hydrogen, making it one of the world’s major producers and exporters.
The government of Oman anticipates that the green hydrogen industry would receive a total investment worth more than US$20 billion by 2030 as a result of the publication of a defined green hydrogen policy and increased interest from international investors.
Competitive Pricing
Abri pointed out that the prognosis for natural gas prices influences how competitively priced green hydrogen is. According to him, the price of renewable hydrogen is anticipated to fall from US$3.5/kg in 2022 to roughly US$1.5/kg in 2030, whereas the price of fossil hydrogen may reach US$4/kg due to the increasingly competitive gas market.
By 2030, the price of renewable hydrogen in Oman might be $1.45 USD/kg. But the price of ammonia conversion and transportation greatly raises the total cost of supply, he added.
Abri estimates that Oman will export one-sixth as much hydrogen by 2030 as it does LNG. He stated during the presentation that “capturing a 10-15% portion of the global hydrogen trade in 2040 would yield equivalent export quantities for Oman as LNG delivers now.”
Although Oman’s economy now depends on fossil fuels, the nation also possesses a wealth of renewable energy resources, according to Abri, who also noted that Oman has set ambitious goals for renewable energy and renewable hydrogen production and has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
The IEA is now working on a report on how Oman may build new revenue streams and decarbonize domestic energy use with the support of large-scale green hydrogen production. According to Abri, the study would be released in the first quarter of 2023.
The use of hydrogen as a fuel can replace the usage of natural gas in industrial processes for high-temperature heat as the sultanate progresses with its energy transformation strategy.
According to IEA estimates, steam and low-temperature heat supply the remaining 16% of Oman’s industrial sector’s total energy requirements, while medium and high-temperature heat supply 84% of it.
With a goal of positioning the sultanate as a leading global green hydrogen center, Oman has established Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), an independent subsidiary business of Energy Development Oman (EDO), to speed up the development of the green hydrogen industry.
By enabling the delivery of projects at scale and with competitive pricing for the entire world, Hydrom is concentrating on growing the green hydrogen sector.
