Oman, ACME to Build Green H2 & Ammonia Project

Oman, the oldest independent state in the Arab world, has signed a land reservation agreement for a green hydrogen and ammonia project that Indian renewable energy company ACME aims to set up in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm.

The announcement was made by Oman's state news agency through Twitter recently.

According to its Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) report, which was recently submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Oman's upstream oil and gas sector is evaluating a target of zero emissions by 2050,

The country is planning a substantial investment in renewable and alternative energy sources and a commitment to achieve Zero Routine Flaring by 2030, said the report.

The deal with ACME is part of a plan by Oman's Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones to promote investment in clean energy by producing hydrogen and ammonia from renewable energy to boost its use, including in transport and industry, the state news agency said.

Oman's National Energy Strategy has set a target to derive 20% of electricity from renewables by 2027, to attain which, it will need to develop at least 2.66 GW of renewables by then. As per the plan, photovoltaic solar would account for about 79% of the capacity, with the remaining coming from wind farms.

Currently the majority of electricity in Oman is generated by burning crude oil (65%) and natural gas (35%).

In January, Shams Ad-Dhahira Generating Company (SAGC) began the commissioning of a 500 MW solar PV plant in the northwest of Oman. Commercial operations will begin at the end of the year. Additionally, Sterling and Wilson Solar Limited announced in the same month that it had successfully commissioned its second project in Oman. The 25 MW solar project was awarded to SWSL by global energy company Shell.

The Sultanate aims to reduce the oil share of GDP to 16% in 2030 and 8.4% by 2040.