SOHAR plans first green hydrogen hub in Oman

Declining costs for solar PV generation, means building electrolysers at the port, with excellent renewable resource conditions, could become a low-cost supply option for hydrogen, revealed a white paper published by Mark Geilenkirchen, CEO of SOHAR Port and Freezone, managed by SOHAR Industrial Port Company (SIPC), a 50:50 joint venture between the Port of Rotterdam and the Sultanate of Oman.

“The planned facility will create carbon-free hydrogen from low-cost solar power, stored for use on demand. The hydrogen stored for later delivery (via pipelines and trailers) will be used by the port’s industries and tenants for clean transport and industrial purposes,” according to Mr Geilenkirchen in ‘SOHAR Port and Freezone | Going Green’.p

Sohar is working in collaboration with the Port of Rotterdam, as well as Hydrogen Rise, and other research institutes worldwide, to identify cost-competitive solutions for the adoption of hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas.

Mr Geilenkirchen stressed: “Scale-up will be critical to bring down the costs of technologies for producing and using clean hydrogen, such as electrolysers, fuel cells and hydrogen production with CCUS.”

He said in the short term Sohar can accelerate efforts to find commercially viable deep sea vessels that run on zero-emission fuels such as hydrogen, while simultaneously optimising ship speed to minimise fuel consumption.

In April, SOHAR become the first Middle Eastern port member of SEA\LNG.