MUSCAT: A roundtable held against the backdrop of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos (Switzerland) spotlighted the role of three major Belgian companies in supporting the energy transition in the Sultanate of Oman.
Represented at the roundtable were top executives of marine engineering and contracting giant DEME (part of the well-diversified Belgian group Ackermans & van Haaren), Port of Antwerp-Bruges (a key player in the operation of Port of Duqm), and Fluxys, a leading gas transmission, storage and LNG terminaling operator, which recently acquired a minority stake in OQ Gas Networks, the owner and operator of Oman’s gas transmission network.
Hosted by Belgium House on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, the roundtable underscored the role of Belgian players in setting up the ‘Building Blocks of the Global Energy System’, as reflected in their partnerships with Omani government-backed companies in driving the Gulf state’s energy transition. One such partnership, represented by the HYPORT Duqm consortium, is setting up one of Oman’s first green hydrogen / ammonia projects, it noted.
“The longstanding presence of Ackermans & van Haaren /DEME and Port of Antwerp-Bruges in the Port of Duqm and the strategic partnership between Fluxys and OQGN is to be seen as fundamental building blocks for the development of a new global energy system,” said Belgium House in an introduction to the roundtable.
“Furthermore, since 2020, DEME and state-owned energy company OQ, have been developing Oman’s frontrunning green hydrogen production project, HYPORT Duqm, which will be enhanced by the infrastructure build by the rich Omani-Belgian cooperation,” it further noted.
Taking part in the roundtable were Luc Vandenbulcke, CEO – DEME, Jacques Vandermeiren, CEO - Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and Pascal De Buck, CEO – Fluxys.
HYPORT Duqm is targeting the production of 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of green hydrogen in the first phase starting in 2029 – volumes that will contribute to the production of around 330,000 tpa of green ammonia, rising to 650,000 tpa during the second phase. Much of this output is proposed to be shipped to markets in Europe through the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Renewable power for the project will come from a combination of solar and wind capacity estimated at 1.3 gigawatts (GW) in Phase 1, rising to 2.7 GW in Phase 2.
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