Muscat – As part of Oman’s efforts to be a worldwide hub for the production and export of green hydrogen, Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) – a subsidiary of Energy Development Oman (EDO) – will sign the first green hydrogen project agreements in Oman on Thursday.

These agreements fall within the Phase A Round 1 auction process that was kicked off in November 2022, Hydrom said in a press statement.

Building upon the progress achieved since the announcement of the Oman Green Hydrogen Strategy in October, as well as the subsequent announcement of the first public auction bidding process, the issuance of Royal Decree 10/2023, and the signing of Commercial Terms with six Legacy Initiatives earlier this year, Hydrom will now proceed to sign its first project-related agreements, marking the commencement of the development stage for these projects.

H E Eng Salim bin Nasser al-Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals and chairman of Hydrom, will sign these agreements with the developers in a special event at Grand Millennium Muscat. The occasion will also witness the signing of a head usufruct agreement between the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, and Hydrom, as well as other memorandums of understanding (MoUs) between various prominent entities related to the green economy.

The signing of these agreements is in line with Oman’s constant efforts to stimulate the growth of its hydrogen sector by strategically creating attractive investment opportunities in this promising sector. These efforts are also aligned with Oman Vision 2040, which aims to create a bright future for renewable and sustainable energy to achieve Net-Zero emissions by 2050.

Regulated by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Hydrom is the orchestrator and overall master planner of Oman’s green hydrogen sector. Its mandate includes the delineation of government-owned land areas, the structuring of associated large-scale green hydrogen projects, managing the process for their allocation to developers, as well as facilitating the development of common infrastructure and connected ecosystem industries and hubs.