MUSCAT: The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) signed on Monday a land lease agreement with Acme Group, India’s largest solar power developer, for the establishment of a major Green Hydrogen & Ammonia Project in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm.
The agreement was signed by Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidi, Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, with Manoj Upadhyay, Chairperson of ACME, and Gursharan Jassal – GM Business Development of ACME.
Eng Yahya bin Khamis al Zadjali, who head operations at the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, said ACME Group will initially conducted field studies at the project site, install devices for measuring wind speed and direction, a weather station, and other equipment for weather data collection.
The agreement is in line with OPAZ’s efforts to promote investment in clean energy, notably in the production of green hydrogen and ammonia from renewable energy resources. It also sees the potential for investment in clean energy storage and transportation systems, as well as the growth of a manufacturing sector that utilizes these new energy resources at Duqm.
According to Jalal bin Abdulkarim al Lawati of OPAZ, the Authority is currently negotiating with a number of international companies that have expressed an interest in establishing projects for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia in Duqm, Salalah and Suhar.
Duqm, in particular, is ideal for green hydrogen and ammonia projects considering the presence of high solar irradiation, wind resources all year long, and easy export and import access through Duqm Port. Adding to these factors is the large amount of land allocated for renewable energy covering an area of about 200 sq km.
ACME, the largest solar energy operator in India, has around 3 GW of solar power capacity in its portfolio, in addition to around 3 GW of capacity under construction.
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