OQ signs two agreements for green fuel supply

Muscat: The Alternative Energy (AE) business unit of OQ company on Monday signed a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with Asyad Group, A.P. Moller-Maersk and Sumitomo Corporation Middle East on conducting a feasibility study for the provision and supply of green fuel in the Sultanate of Oman.

The MoC, signed on the sidelines of the Oman Green Hydrogen Summit 2022, provides that the joint parties discuss the commercial and technical feasibility of providing and supplying green ammonia and green methanol in the ports of Duqm and Salalah for use in operating ports, as well as chances for exporting the products abroad in the future.

Essam bin Nasser Al Sheibani, Group VP Sustainability, Asyad, said that the MoC consists of two phases. The first phase relates to the feasibility study on exploiting the existing infrastructure in ports with green zone projects.

The second phase deals with choosing which type of fuel is currently commercial, notably since world vessels use fossil fuels and there is strong competition between some ports to produce this type of fuel, he added.

Al Sheibani told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the study will place Oman on the green fuel map. He pointed out that the selection of the ports of Duqm and Salalah to supply green ammonia and methanol was due to the availability of vast lands and the possibility of establishing most green hydrogen projects there. This advantage will help reduce the cost of transporting green fuel, he added.

OQ’s Alternative Energy Business Unit also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Oman Indian Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO) to study a plan to achieve carbon cycling economy (technologies and applications of carbon capture and storage). The plan envisages the use of recycled carbon to boost national efforts for the diversification of sources of energy.

Renewable energy technology will be used to contribute to Oman’s carbon neutrality goal by 2050, according to the plan, which also aims to study the feasibility of producing blue ammonia in the Wilayat of Sur and its uses in the company’s production operations.

Qassim Mohammed Al Balushi, Director of Strategic Planning for Sustainability at OMIFCO, said that the MoU seeks to harness modern technologies in the field of renewable energy, as well as low carbon technologies, to realize the production of blue ammonia within the company.

Al Balushi told ONA that the MoU will serve the company’s goal of accessing blue ammonia technology and utilizing carbon in the company’s operations internally. It also fits with Oman’s overall objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, he added.

Al Balushi pointed out that the MoU constitutes a first step towards conducting studies that will explain how to access appropriate technology to store carbon and benefit from it for the production of blue ammonia. The study will begin in 2023 and be completed as soon as possible, he said.