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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Swedish thermal energy storage firm announces Oman foray

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MUSCAT, DEC 21 - Underscoring growing international interest in the Sultanate’s renewable energy sector, Swedish thermal energy storage firm Azelio has announced a partnership with local Omani enterprise Al Mashani to set up a small-scale project showcasing its pioneering technology.


Azelio is a publicly listed company specialising in thermal energy storage with dispatchable Stirling-based electricity production when and where it is needed, modular and to a low cost. The technology is revolutionary for its unique ability to store thermal energy for production of electricity at nominal effect for 13 hours.


Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Azelio with Al Mashani, the Swedish firm will establish a small-scale project to demonstrate its technology in the Sultanate. It will pave the way for an aggregated project pipeline of about 25 MW between 2021 and 2024. This capacity is forecasted along the following timeline: 50 kW in 2021, 5 MW in 2022, 7 MW in 2023, and 13 MW in 2024.


According to a statement issued by Azelio, the initial project is a system of 50 kW with 13 hours of storage, intended to become operational in 2021 in Oman. A preliminary end user has been identified for the project and has submitted an Expression of Interest (EoI) for assessing Azelio’s solution for its mining operations. Azelio’s storage will leverage the excess energy produced by a PV field during peak hours of the day, being effectively charged at zero cost. By doing so, it will be able to produce electricity during nighttime and cover the PV park’s auxiliaries and self-consumption.


Oman has set a target for renewable energy to cover 30 per cent of its electricity demand by 2030, of which solar power is expected to account for a large share.


In this context, Al Mashani is interested in deploying Azelio’s equipment both in on-grid and off-grid settings. Both companies aim through their collaboration to offer a reliable solution for expanding the use of solar energy beyond sun hours, essential for the full adoption of renewable technologies by industrial customers.


“Azelio has a great role to play in expanding the use of renewable energy sources around the globe in general and in countries in the sun belt in particular. We see great potential for our solution in industrial settings, something this initial project and the intended broader implementation shows,” said Azelio’s CEO Jonas Eklind.


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