MUSCAT: With international developers committing tens of billions of dollars in investments in green hydrogen production in the Sultanate of Oman – much of it destined primarily for export, Oman’s authorities are looking to make sure that prospective import markets are ready to receive the zero-carbon fuel starting from around 2030.
The main criteria for readiness to receive green hydrogen, says a key official, rest on two key prerequisites: one, the physical logistics of receiving and discharging the highly volatile fuel from specialized carriers upon their arrival at a destination port, and two, ensuring that the fuel meets with locally mandated zero-carbon certification specs.
According to Eng Abdulaziz bin Said al Shidhani, Managing Director – Hydrom, the orchestrator and master-planner of Oman’s renewable hydrogen sector, multiple delegations representing stakeholders from the Omani side, have visited promising European Union (EU) markets to ensure the readiness of their receiving ports for green hydrogen exports from the Sultanate of Oman.
“Among of the goals (of these visits) was to ensure the readiness of the markets to receive hydrogen,” said Al Shidhani. “It became clear to us through these visits that the other parties are serious about equipping their ports for this as well. This gives confidence that the efforts being made in Oman are accompanied by parallel efforts in other countries.”
The EU is expected to be the biggest destination for exports of Omani green hydrogen or its derivatives, starting from 2030. Seeking to ensure that logistics and certification standards are in alignment at both ends, Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals has led delegations to Brussels and other European capitals over the past year. Prospective markets in the Far East, notably Japan and South Korea, have been covered as well.
Speaking to Duqm Economist, the newsletter of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ), Al Shidhani also pointed out that the visits doubled as campaigns for the marketing of Omani green hydrogen to countries with ambitions to decarbonize their economies.
“There is a continuous endeavour to promote the available opportunities more, not only by Hydrom, but also includes several other entities related to the sector, such as the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. The available resources in the Sultanate of Oman require more promotion, thus we have started several virtual meetings, and had external visits. These efforts have begun to bear fruit,” he said.
Most notable, said the official, was a high-level visit led by Eng Salim al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals, to The Netherlands in March this year. Besides taking part in the World Hydrogen Summit held in Rotterdam, the delegation also visited the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam in The Netherlands and the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
Also during the visits, agreements supporting a Green Hydrogen Certification Pilot Project were signed in Brussels. The pilot, led by Hyport Duqm, aims to “ensure that green hydrogen production projects in the Sultanate of Oman meet the requirements of the European Union, which paves the way for exporting green hydrogen produced in the Sultanate of Oman in the future to European markets”, said Al Shidhani.
Hyport Duqm, comprising a consortium of DEME Concessions of Belgium and OQ Alternative Energy of Oman, is investing in a major green hydrogen project at the SEZ in Duqm for the production of green ammonia and other derivatives.
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