Green Energy Oman project to span over 6,500 sq km desert area

By Arya M Nair, Official Reporter
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An international consortium led by OQ, a national petroleum investment company of the Sultanate of Oman, will develop a global-scale green hydrogen project on vast desert expanses spanning a total area of about 6,500 square kilometers.

Mr. Ahmed al Rawas, Project Manager at OQ’s Alternative Energy unit, said that the proposed project area, which includes parts of Al Wusta Governorate near Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZAD) and northern parts of Dhofar Governorate, will be necessary to host expansive fields of solar and wind farms.

The megaproject, which was recently renamed ‘Green Energy Oman’ (GEO), is one of the world’s largest of its kind. Once completed, it will be large enough to meet Oman’s, the Gulf region’s, and, to some extent, the international market’s green energy such as green hydrogen and green ammonia, requirements.

Ahmed al Rawas
Ahmed al Rawas
Project Manager
Alternative Energy unit – OQ

“To meet the future demand, the GEO consortium believes it is necessary to build a large-scale project from the beginning, rather than have several small projects at a time, and due to the synergies offered by a large project, there are several key parameters that are optimized, such as by reducing the Levelized cost of hydrogen and ammonia.”

The project’s large scale will also help optimize Capex costs, while any minor fluctuations in energy output due to the project’s reliance on solar and wind resources will have a smaller impact on the whole system.

During the Green Hydrogen Summit Oman (GHSO) in Muscat last week, Mr. Al Rawas said that the GEO project, powered by 25 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind generation capacity will produce 1.8 million tons per annum of green hydrogen and 10 million tons of green ammonia when fully operational.

According to officials, favorable solar and wind conditions make the Duqm area of Al Wusta Governorate the “most suitable location” for the implementation of the project. Complementing this feature is the availability of vast tracts of flat land within and around the SEZ in Duqm and its proximity to export infrastructure on the coast.

Partners in the GEO consortium include Enertech of Kuwait and Intercontinental Energy (ICE). A Final Investment Decision (FID) targeted sometime in early 2026 will pave the way for construction work on the mega project to commence in 2027.

Related: Green electricity could become the cheapest energy by 2050; Study

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