MUSCAT: Oman’s plans to establish itself as a key exporter of liquefied hydrogen (LH2) are advancing, with feasibility studies confirming the project's viability.

Speaking at the World Hydrogen MENA Congress in Dubai last week, Rumaitha al Busaidi, Business and ICV Development Manager at Hydrom, reaffirmed the country’s commitment to developing a full-fledged liquid hydrogen supply chain to serve European markets.

"We think liquid hydrogen can work, it is feasible," Al Busaidi stated, emphasising that Oman is on track to become one of the world’s top green hydrogen producers by 2030. The project, spearheaded by Hydrom — the orchestrator of Oman’s green hydrogen sector — in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Athens-based Ecolog, and German power company EnBW, is expected to create a seamless export route from Oman to the Port of Amsterdam.

BUILDING THE HYDROGEN CORRIDOR

The initiative builds on the Joint Study Agreement (JSA) signed during COP28 in 2023, which brought together Oman, the Port of Amsterdam, Zenith Energy Terminals, and GasLog to explore the development of a liquid hydrogen export chain. The planned liquefaction facility in Duqm will process hydrogen at -253°C, allowing it to be transported via specialised Ecolog vessels with a capacity of 2,000 tonnes per shipment.

Once in Amsterdam, the hydrogen will be either regasified and supplied to German industries via pipeline or distributed in its liquefied form via trucks within the Netherlands. The Port of Amsterdam’s hydrogen terminal will also serve a dual role, including the export of captured CO₂ from European industries back to Oman for potential utilisation or sequestration.

INSIGHTS FROM GH2 INVESTOR DAY

Oman’s hydrogen ambitions were previously highlighted at the GH2 Investor Day in December last year, where Al Busaidi and Ellen Ruhotas, Head of Hydrogen Midstream at Ecolog, provided an in-depth look into the project’s development. They stressed the importance of bridging the midstream gap between strong hydrogen producers like Oman and growing demand centers in Europe.

"The journey actually started when two nations... looked at each other and said we need to come up with a way of how we actually make this a reality," Al Busaidi said, emphasising the mutual interest between Oman and the Netherlands. The event also underscored the project’s engineering complexity, particularly in scaling up liquefaction and shipping technologies to support a commercial hydrogen market.

Ruhotas compared the initiative to the early days of the LNG industry, pointing out that commercialising LH2 exports requires overcoming technical challenges such as boil-off losses during shipping. She emphasized that Oman’s approach covers the entire value chain, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

ENGINEERING AND MARKET CHALLENGES

The project targets industries that are difficult to electrify, such as brick and glass manufacturing, data centres, and food processing facilities, where demand for green hydrogen is rising. Minimising hydrogen losses during transport remains a key challenge, as unlike LNG, hydrogen’s low density makes efficient shipping more complex.

Despite these hurdles, feasibility studies indicate strong commercial potential, and Europe’s demand for clean hydrogen continues to grow. Al Busaidi emphasised that the full hydrogen value chain—from production to liquefaction and transport.

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