SALALAH: The fifth Salalah Engineering Forum has closed with a set of recommendations calling for a phased national plan to prepare Oman's electricity grid for higher volumes of renewable energy, a joint public-private programme of smart energy pilot projects and a permanent platform linking industry to applied university research.
The two-day forum, held on September 1 and 2 at Salalah Rotana Resort under the theme 'Energy Transformation Engineering: Applied Innovations for a Flexible Clean Energy Infrastructure', was organised by the Oman Society of Engineers (OSE) in strategic partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. It was held under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Marwan bin Turki al Said, Governor of Dhofar.
Recommendations were grouped under four headings covering technology and infrastructure, research and knowledge transfer, sustainability and resource efficiency; and policy and human development.
On infrastructure, the forum called for grid readiness to be raised through a staged implementation plan spanning energy storage systems, demand management, smart meters and digital solutions. It also urged the launch of a national programme of pilot smart energy projects, jointly run by government bodies and the private sector, to test artificial intelligence applications, load management and renewable energy integration.
Participants recommended establishing a permanent national platform for industry-university cooperation, intended to connect operational challenges to applied research and convert study findings into commercial solutions and investment opportunities.
Under sustainability, the forum proposed national programmes on energy efficiency and the circular economy, supported by performance indicators measuring economic and environmental impact.
On policy, it called for national talent to be retained through structured qualification programmes and defined career paths and for regulatory frameworks to be developed in a way that balances economic growth against environmental sustainability in line with Oman Vision 2040.
Dr Khalfan al Kharusi, chairman of the forum's scientific committee, said engineering was not merely a set of tools and techniques but the principal driver of the economic and environmental transformation under way in Oman and globally.
He said the sessions had shown that the future would be shaped by the combination of engineering innovation, supportive policy and investment in human capital and stressed the need for partnership between the public and private sectors, academic institutions and research bodies to turn research into deliverable projects. What was presented at the forum marked the start of a practical track requiring joint work and continuous follow-up rather than the end of the discussion, he added.
The programme was built around four themes: renewable energy integration and storage; grid resilience and artificial intelligence in energy; decarbonisation and low-carbon hydrogen; and energy efficiency and the circular economy. It featured 31 presentations and more than 22 scientific papers, alongside two panel sessions bringing together specialists and representatives of government and private entities.
Researchers and specialists from Oman, Libya, Qatar, Iraq, India and Denmark took part, according to the organisers, alongside representatives of energy companies, consultancy firms, the Arab Engineers Union and Gulf engineering bodies and societies.
The forum closed with the honouring of students taking part in the OSE graduation projects award competition and of sponsors of the accompanying exhibition.
OSE said it would continue organising specialised professional events, describing the forum as reinforcing Oman's standing as a regional centre for the exchange of engineering expertise and strengthening professional activity at governorate level.
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