Muscat – Hydrom – the state-owned company mandated to structure and accelerate the development of the green hydrogen sector in Oman – has extended the bid submission deadline for the first round of Phase A auction process for green hydrogen blocks in the sultanate.

‘As part of Oman Green Hydrogen Auction process, Hydrom is announcing that the bid submission deadline for Phase A Round 1 has been extended by one month. Bidders are now expected to submit their proposals by March 15, 2023,’ Hydrom said in a statement on its website.

Hydrom intends to award land blocks for green hydrogen projects this year, in order to meet the sultanate’s 2030 production target of 1mn tonnes per annum of green hydrogen.

The Phase A auction process is divided into two bid rounds. Two blocks will be awarded in the first round in Duqm area by April 2023 and an additional two-to-four blocks will be awarded in the second round in Dhofar area by end of Q4 2023.

Hydrom expects the winning developers to deliver integrated projects, covering the full green hydrogen value chain that includes renewable production, hydrogen production, hydrogen derivatives conversion and offtake.

‘Developers are expected to bid as consortia and partner with a government-owned entity post-award [of the block],’ Hydrom said in its announcement.

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.

With the announcement of a clear green hydrogen strategy and growing interest from international investors, Oman’s government is expecting to attract total investment worth more than US$20bn in the green hydrogen sector by 2030.