Oman is actively working towards addressing climate change, reducing emissions, and promoting renewable energy sources. One of the priorities of Oman Vision 2040, adopted in 2020, is to develop policies and procedures to reduce Carbon Dioxide Emission. In November 2022, Oman adopted the National Strategy for an Orderly Transition to Net Zero. The guiding objectives of the Strategy are to reduce carbon emissions to reach Net Zero by 2050 and minimize the overall carbon budget, ensure system security through self-sufficiency, system stability, and low-risk access to supplies, minimize energy costs to the domestic population and energy-dependent domestic sectors, optimize for macroeconomic benefit, solving for stable fiscal revenues, and GDP through existing and new value pools, and solve for job retention and future job creation framework. The strategy outlines the economic objectives of the transition, which include lowering energy system costs, boosting GDP by an additional 50% (with two-thirds coming from green hydrogen and one-third from green power capacity), enhancing fiscal balance, creating jobs and achieving greater social benefits, and ensuring energy security through self-sufficiency in electricity, hydrogen, and hydrocarbons.
Recently, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals of Oman has unveiled an energy transition strategy to overhaul the country’s energy sector, setting a course towards zero carbon emissions by 2050. The strategy emphasizes key areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, hydrogen development, and carbon capture. It is guided by five principles: ensuring energy security, shifting to low-carbon energy, developing local expertise, building a low-carbon economy, and preserving Oman’s competitive position in the global energy sector.
Highlighting the plan’s objectives, Maryam bint Mohammed al Hashimi, Director of Electricity and Energy Efficiency Policies and Strategies at MEM, stated, “Our aim is to provide the energy needed for economic growth while supporting Oman’s drive towards economic diversification, reducing carbon emissions, creating new job opportunities, and building skilled national talent.” As part of its energy transition, Oman aims to increase the share of renewable energy to 30% by 2030, 70% by 2040, and 100% by 2050. The plan also targets improving energy efficiency to reach 6 MJ per US$ of GDP by 2050 and ensuring that 100% of new car sales are zero-emission vehicles by the same year.
Oman’s plan also prioritizes green hydrogen production, with targets of one million tons by 2030, 3.5 million tons by 2040, and 8 million tons by 2050, according to Maryam bint Mohammed Al Hashimi. Al Hashimi stressed that energy transformation is a collective effort, presenting new avenues for economic growth in Oman, a country rich in renewable energy resources. She informed that visits will be conducted to designated sites for renewable energy and clean hydrogen projects. These sites, identified by a Royal decree earlier this year, will be part of the ministry’s wider strategy and the plans of Hydrogen Oman Company, also known as Hydrom. So far, 1500 square kilometres of land has been put aside for development by 2030 – and up to 40 times more land has been identified for potential production in the long term. Six projects have already been allocated land for renewable hydrogen in the country’s first such auction process.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has also praised Oman’s efforts to achieve net zero milestone. According to the IEA, Oman is on track to become the sixth largest exporter of hydrogen globally, and the largest in the Middle East, by 2030. The IAE also indicates that Oman can cost-effectively achieve its targets of renewables reaching 20% of the country’s electricity mix by 2030 – and 39% by 2040. According to the IAE, scaling up production of renewable hydrogen in Oman to 1 million tonnes by 2030 would require cumulative investment of around USD 33 billion. An additional USD 4 billion would be required to bring renewables’ share of the national electricity mix to 20%. Achieving its targets and using one-third of renewable hydrogen for domestic uses would significantly contribute to Oman’s clean energy transition. The benefits would include reducing domestic use of natural gas by 3 billion cubic metres a year and avoiding 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
