The Ministry of Energy and Minerals of the Sultanate and Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) have signed a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) with Port of Amsterdam, Zenith Energy Terminals and GasLog, to collaborate on the development of a liquid hydrogen route to market for green hydrogen produced in the Sultanate of Oman, according to the Port of Amsterdam's release.
The Agreement entails conducting a detailed assessment of the requirements to develop an open-access hydrogen liquefaction, storage and export facility in the Sultanate of Oman, along with the provision of specialised vessels for the transportation of the liquid hydrogen, currently under development by GasLog. The primary aim of the Agreement is to establish a green hydrogen corridor between the Sultanate of Oman and the Netherlands, with the terminal of Zenith Energy as the destination for the import, regasification and further distribution of Oman-produced hydrogen to both local offtakers within the port of Amsterdam, as well as large industries in the European hinterland. The open-access liquefaction facility will also enable the government of the Sultanate of Oman to explore cost effective hydrogen export corridors to other global markets.
The MoU, which was signed during COP27, aims to advance the bilateral collaboration to support companies to establish import and export corridors, as well as to strengthen cooperation and investment opportunities within import and export facilities for clean and locally produced hydrogen. The Agreement signed at this year’s edition of COP therefore constitutes a new milestone in Omani-Dutch relations, where the Omani government, Hydrom, Port of Amsterdam, Zenith Energy Terminals and GasLog will work on the realisation of the envisioned import/export corridor.
Liquefying gaseous hydrogen, shipping of liquid hydrogen and regasification at the destination port is a mode of energy transportation successfully used by the LNG industry for decades. Leveraging the pioneering works undertaken by the ‘Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Project’, which designed and built the Suiso Frontier, the world’s first liquid hydrogen vessel, the partners under this Agreement seek to develop an energy efficient and zero carbon emission, liquid hydrogen handling chain, which can safely, efficiently and cost effectively deliver commercial quantities of Oman’s green hydrogen to international markets well before 2030.