Plans to set up a large-scale ‘green hydrogen’ project in the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ) have been unveiled, according to a report.
The main promoter of the project is DEME Group, a Belgiium-headquartered conglomerate with international interests in dredging and reclamation, marine engineering, environmental remediation and of late, in renewable energy development.
DEME Concessions, a subsidiary of the group, announced an “exclusive partnership” with Omani investors for plant. With a proposed electrolyser capacity estimated between 250 and 500 megawatts (MW), the project will rank among the largest of its kind in the Middle East, the report said.
Green hydrogen — billed as a fuel source and energy carrier of the future — is produced when electricity generated by harnessing renewable sources like solar and wind is used to electrolyse water (H2O). Unlike conventional methods, which result in the release of greenhouse-gas causing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, green hydrogen is environment-friendly.
Green hydrogen can thus be used as an alternative and decarbonised feedstock for the petrochemical industry, or as a clean energy source for the industry and the mobility sector. Additionally, it can also serve as an energy carrier and temporary storage for (excess) green electricity, the report said.
DEME Concessions has commissioned global consulting firm Roland Berger to oversee an in-depth feasibility study that will ascertain customer offtake choices, technology options, electricity feed-in options, hydrogen (derivatives) shipping options and to define the concept and scope of the commercial scale demonstration project.
“The feasibility phase will be followed by the detailed design and engineering, further project development and finalisation of offtake routes and financing. A final investment decision for the commercial scale demonstration project is expected during 2021,” it added.
