Muscat – Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) and the US-based hydrogen technologies firm H2-Industries have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a waste-to-hydrogen plant in conjunction with PV solar power plants with base-load capacity in Oman.

The proposed US$1.4bn project will be built on a 200,000 sqm coastal site in the sultanate, H2-Industries said in a press statement.

H2-Industries is a global hydrogen generation and energy storage solutions company headquartered in New York City.

The proposed waste-to-hydrogen plant in Oman will initially convert up to 1mn tonnes of municipal solid waste each year sourced from waste management operators and mined from existing landfills, but the facility will have the capacity to expand to manage up to 4mn tonnes of waste.

The project also includes the construction of a 300MW base-load capable PV solar installation that will include 70MW of electrical storage, H2-Industries said.

The annual production of hydrogen and CO₂ generated from the waste will have an export value of over US$268mn, comprising 67,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 1mn tonnes of CO₂, the company added.

‘Although the primary function of the plant is to produce green energy without environmentally harmful emissions, it also offers additional benefits to the region. The project will allow Oman to develop an effective waste management system creating employment and delivering other socio-economic benefits,’ H2-Industries noted.

Municipal solid waste management is a challenging issue for Oman. As per H2-Industries’ statement, the sultanate produces about 1.9mn tonnes of solid waste each year. The per capita waste generation in Oman is more than 1.5kg per day, among the highest worldwide.

H2-Industries’ proprietary technology transforms organic waste including plastic, sewage sludge, and existing landfill waste in a thermos-chemical process into green hydrogen and pure CO₂. This is achieved without the use of external electricity or burning waste, making the entire process emission free.

The green hydrogen produced from that process can be transported and stored, using H2-Industries’ Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technologies, and released on demand for use in industrial applications.

Once the pre-development and permitting phase is completed, the facility will start producing hydrogen in approximately 30 months, H2-Industries noted.

“This is an exciting opportunity and one that will take the tonnes of waste that collects in Oman and turn it into green hydrogen,” executive chairman of H2-Industries, Michael Stusch said.

“The US$1.4bn investment into Oman will make a substantial contribution to the country’s waste management strategy and demonstrates how fighting climate change and enhancing environmental protection can go hand in hand and benefit all stakeholders,” he said.

The green hydrogen produced at the H2-Industries facility in Oman can be sold and transported for international use or, alternatively, H2-Industries can create low-cost synthetic diesel or sustainable aviation fuel, with the captured CO₂, which is the only emission in this process, depending on international market demand.