Saudi Arabia?s ACWA Power has signed a US$7bn agreement with Omanoil and Air Products to produce green hydrogen in Oman?s Salalah free zone
On 6 December, 13 memorandums of understanding (MoU), valued at more than US$10bn, were signed between Saudi and Omani firms.
ACWA Power and US-based Air Products are already moving ahead with plans to develop a US$5bn hydrogen-based ammonia plant in Saudi Arabia.
The US$5bn hydrogen-based plant will be located at the planned US$500bn Neom development on the Red Sea Coast of the kingdom, one of the kingdom?s Public Investment Fund (PIF?s) key megaprojects planned to diversify the country?s economy away from a dependence on oil.
The project will be powered by more than 4GW of renewable energy, and will be able to produce 1.2 million tonnes of ammonia per year. The plant will produce 650 tonnes of hydrogen daily, Air Products revealed in a statement released on 7 July.
Air Products will be the offtaker for the produced green ammonia, and will invest a further US$2bn in distribution. Production from the facility is due to begin in 2025.
Oman is aiming to become the global hub for the production and export of green hydrogen and ammonia.
Oman?s state-owned energy company OQ, in partnership with Belgium?s DEME, is also working on plans for a green hydrogen and ammonia project at the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEC).
In the first stage of development, the Hyport project will develop an electrolyser capacity of between 250MW to 500MW, which will be powered by up to 1.3GW of solar and wind renewable energy.
A consortium of OQ, Hong Kong-based green fuels developer Intercontinental Energy and Kuwait?s EnerTech is planning to develop a green hydrogen plant in Oman, which will ultimately be powered by 25GW of renewable energy.
In October this year, Japan?s Marubeni, Germany?s Linde and the UAE?s Dutco Group have signed a joint development agreement (JDA) with OQ to conduct technical and commercial feasibility studies on developing a green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in the Salalah Free Zone.
The proposed ?SalalaH2? project would produce up to 1,000 tonnes a day of green ammonia, utilising OQ?s existing ammonia plant in Salalah. The group will develop an electrolysis facility with a capacity of up to 400MW to produce green hydrogen for ammonia production.
The electrolyser will be powered by approximately 1GW of solar and wind power.
