Oman completes green licensing round

Australia’s Fortescue and France’s EDF Renewables among the successful bidders as second-round auction draws green hydrogen projects worth about $11b

Oman’s energy sector projects have historically moved slowly: a greenfield refinery at Duqm, its flagship downstream project since the late 2000s, started up only in February. Hydrocarbon licensing rounds are also drawn-out affairs. However, less than 18 months after the sultanate launched its innovative system of green hydrogen auctions—whereby prospective developers bid for allocation of land in the most renewables-rich areas to carry out integrated production projects—eight schemes have been licensed. The projects envisage total output of 1.4mt/yr by the end of the decade and investment of more than $49b, roughly equivalent to the country’s entire existing foreign direct investment stock.