According to a senior official at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Oman’s government anticipates attracting investment totaling more than $20 billion in the green hydrogen sector by 2030.
By 2030, the sultanate hopes to create one million tonnes of green hydrogen, making it one of the world’s major producers and exporters.
“It is hoped that the entire investment that will be attracted in the sector of green hydrogen until 2030 would reach more than US$20bn,” said Eng Abdulaziz al Shidhani, director general of renewable energy and hydrogen at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. This will be accomplished through the creation and execution of the projects included in the first package, which consists of six investment possibilities split into two parts. The first phase was introduced, and the second will do so in the second quarter of the following year.
According to him, the first two investment opportunities presented for the green hydrogen projects in Duqm have attracted a lot of attention from overseas investors. As many as 40 firms have expressed interest in taking part in the first two auctions for hydrogen concessions in Duqm by purchasing pre-qualification certificates, he continued.
Shidhani noted that the first two green hydrogen concessions are anticipated to be awarded during the first quarter of 2023, in accordance with the ministry’s plan with Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), and that this will be followed by the announcement of additional investment opportunities for green hydrogen projects in the Dhofar governorate.
According to him, Oman would be able to produce at least one million tonnes of green hydrogen by the year 2030 by signing these contracts for the projects that are slated to be put into action in this area.
Shidhani also mentioned that the ministry is looking into the best ways to draft legislation to entice more investment in the green hydrogen sector and to create a clear plan for the sultanate’s energy transition journey.
He emphasized that the governorates of Al Wusta and Dhofar will host the majority of investment opportunities in the first phase for green hydrogen projects and that Oman has allotted more than 50,000 sq km of land in total for such projects.
Shidhani continued by saying that efforts were being made to create investment packages for infrastructure and that Hydrom would engage in this area with specialized government firms commercially.
In order to speed up the growth of the green hydrogen sector, Hydrom, an independent subsidiary of Energy Development Oman (EDO), was recently established to position Oman as a leading worldwide green hydrogen center.
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.
