Muscat – Oman has set an ambition to become one of the largest green hydrogen producers and exporters globally, targeting production of one million tonnes by 2030.

The sultanate on Sunday announced its green hydrogen strategy and plans that target massive investments and installation of 180GW renewable energy capacity by 2050. The plan includes installation of 300mn solar panels and 10,000 wind turbines for the green hydrogen projects by 2050.

To accelerate the development of green hydrogen sector, Oman on Sunday launched Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) – an autonomous subsidiary company of Energy Development Oman – with a vision to position the sultanate as a leading global green hydrogen hub.

Hydrom will focus to develop the green hydrogen sector by enabling the delivery of projects competitively and at scale for the world.

Speaking at the ‘Future of Green Energy’ press conference, Eng Abdulaziz al Shidhani, director general of renewable energy and hydrogen at the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, said, “Oman aims to become one of world’s leading green hydrogen hubs. Over the last few months, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals has developed an ambitious green hydrogen strategy and defined the structure of the green hydrogen sector.”

“The development of the green hydrogen economy will provide a strategic opportunity for Omani and international companies to participate and collaborate in driving local and global energy security, economic diversification and much needed climate change mitigation,” he said.

Hydrom’s mandate includes the delineation of government-owned land areas and the structuring of associated large-scale world-class green hydrogen projects.

On November 6, 2022, Hydrom will be opening a first public bid round aimed at awarding the first land blocks by 2023 to meet the 2030 production target, according to Shidhani.

For Phase A of tendering, two blocks in Duqm and four blocks in Salalah have been selected in order to meet 2030 green hydrogen production targets, he added.

Eng Mazin al Lamki, chief executive officer of Energy Development Oman, said, “We are delighted to announce the new brand identity of Hydrom, a fully owned autonomous subsidiary of EDO. Working in tandem with the ambitious government plans, Hydrom will leverage Oman’s location and abundant solar and wind resources to produce green hydrogen and support the government’s drive to reduce the carbon footprint and achieve the decarbonization targets.”

Dr Firas al Abduwani, acting managing director of Hydrom, said “We at Hydrom look forward to working with international partners to build the future of energy. The bid round we announced today is the first of its kind globally and we are convinced it will help accelerate the development of the green hydrogen industry in Oman and globally.”