First unveiled two years ago at the outset of the Sultanate of Oman’s fledgling decarbonization journey, the Hyport Duqm green hydrogen project is set to be truly historic for at least two reasons: Firstly, as the country’s maiden utility-scale green hydrogen venture, it has the potential to position the Sultanate of Oman as a world-scale producer and exporter of zero-carbon fuels to international markets; Secondly: It establishes what is potentially the first international corridor for green fuel transportation, linking Duqm on the Sultanate of Oman’s southeast coast, and Belgium’s Port of Antwerp, which aims to serve as a key gateway for green energy supplies to Europe.
It is with these underlying objectives that the King and Queen of the Belgians, joined by a high-level government and business delegation, descended on Duqm — the epicenter of the future Omani green hydrogen industry — on Friday.
As part of their tour of infrastructure landmarks in Duqm, notably the Port of Duqm, the Belgian sovereigns and their guests were also given a bird’s-eye view of the sprawling desert site that will hold a vast array of solar and wind farms as part of the Hyport Duqm project.
Hyport Duqm is being developed by a partnership of OQ (the globally integrated energy group of the Sultanate of Oman) and DEME Concessions (the renewable energy and offshore marine infrastructure arm of Belgium’s DEME Group). The latter is also a key stakeholder in Port of Duqm Company.
Underscoring the Omani government support for the landmark project, the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) has earmarked a sprawling 150 sq kilometres for hosting vast arrays of solar PV panels and wind turbines necessary to generate the required ‘green electricity’ for hydrogen production.
Phase 1 envisions investments in up to 1.3 GW of renewable solar and wind capacity necessary to operate electrolysers of between 250-500 MW capacity, to produce an estimated 60,000 mtpa of green hydrogen. Upon conversion, this will yield 330,000 mtpa of green ammonia for export.
Longer-term, renewable energy generation capacity can be ramped up to 3 GW which, in turn, can power 1.5 GW-capacity electrolysers to produce 1 million mtpa of green ammonia — a stable commodity that can be shipped globally for use as fertiliser or for reconversion into green hydrogen or an array of green chemicals or other derivatives.
According to OQ Group (part of Oman Investment Authority), renewable energy from the solar and wind farms will be supplied to electrolysers representing the midstream component located closer to the Port of Duqm. Supplying this green electricity will be a dedicated connection to ensure the ‘green label’ of the energy being used to produce green hydrogen and eventually green ammonia.
Significantly, DEME Concessions has pledged to support the development of a “complete power-to-product value chain at utility scale, combining first-of-a-kind technology integration with economies of scale, producing competitive green hydrogen and green ammonia”.
This comprehensive value chain will connect with Port of Duqm’s new export terminal, storage infrastructure and liquid jetties, while also using the port as a gateway to ship green energy to international markets.
To help secure international markets for Hyport Duqm’s output, the partnership has roped in German-based international energy corporation Uniper secure offtake agreements.
Marketing efforts will be supplemented by OQ’s Trading Arm.
A Final Investment Decision (FID) is anticipated sometime next year.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
