IEA presented a report to Oman to showcase how rich renewable resources and vast land expanses could make the country a competitive low-emissions hydrogen supplier by 2030.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Oman’s high-quality renewable energy resources and vast tracts of available land make it well placed to produce large quantities of low-emissions hydrogen.
Oman aims to produce at least 1 million tons of renewable hydrogen a year by 2030, up to 3.75 million tons by 2040 – and up to 8.5 million tons by 2050, which would be greater than total hydrogen demand in Europe today, IEA stressed.
The 2040 hydrogen target would represent 80% of Oman’s current LNG exports in energy-equivalent terms, while achieving the 2050 target would almost double them.
Based on IEA analysis of the current global project pipeline, Oman is on track to become the sixth largest exporter of hydrogen globally, and the largest in the Middle East, by 2030.
Oman’s hydrogen projects will use electrolyzers powered by renewable electricity to extract hydrogen from desalinated sea water. Oman benefits from high-quality solar PV and onshore wind resources, as well as vast amounts of available land for large-scale projects.
According to the report, while Oman already exports around 200.000 tons of ammonia a year, its ammonia export capacity would need to be 20 to 30 times higher by 2030 if it wants to become a significant international hydrogen supplier in that timeframe, requiring significant and timely investment, especially for storage tanks and dedicated deep-water jetties.
Scaling up production of renewable hydrogen in Oman to 1 million tons by 2030 would require cumulative investment of around USD 33 billion. An additional USD 4 billion would be required to bring renewables’ share of the national electricity mix to 20%, the report says.
Thanks to its huge potential for low-cost solar and wind, renewable hydrogen is set to bring multiple benefits to Oman.
… said Dr Birol
Achieving its targets and using one-third of renewable hydrogen for domestic uses would significantly contribute to Oman’s clean energy transition. The benefits would include reducing domestic use of natural gas by 3 billion cubic meters a year and avoiding 7 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Oman is better known for being an oil and gas developer, however it is also blessed with globally competitive solar and wind energy resources, and the most economically rational action for us is to embark on using this as the most viable and sustainable energy of tomorrow
… said Minister Al Aufi
