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Oman Green Hydrogen Auction Backs Two Duqm Projects
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes · Last updated:
Hydrom, Oman's national hydrogen coordinator, has chosen two consortia in its third green hydrogen auction. Both will build at Duqm, and together they aim to produce 121,000 tonnes of green hydrogen by 2032. In exchange, the developers get plots of 100km to 300km inside the Duqm special economic zone. They also get a 90% cut in land fees, lower base royalties and corporate tax exemptions of up to 10 years. Petrogas E&P and Bio3 Energy will make green ammonium nitrate. A group led by PLN Indonesia Power Renewables will make green ammonia. The Oman green hydrogen auction programme now moves to a fourth round built around power for data centres.
demand-led approach to project allocation that supports the development of domestic hydrogen applications.
Hydrom, on its fourth auction round
Key takeaways
- Two winners: Hydrom picked two consortia in its third auction, and their combined target is 121,000 tonnes of green hydrogen by 2032.
- Ammonium nitrate: Petrogas E&P and Italy's Bio3 Energy plan a green ammonium nitrate plant at Duqm with 625,000 tonnes a year of output and about 50,000 tonnes of annual hydrogen production.
- Ammonia: PLN Indonesia Power Renewables, Alawi Enterprise and HBA Offshore International will build a green ammonia plant sized at 400,000 tonnes a year.
- Incentives: The third round has offered a 90% land fee reduction, lower base royalties and corporate tax exemptions of up to 10 years since its launch in August 2025.
- Next round: Hydrom's fourth auction is organised around data centre power demand, and expressions of interest are open until February next year.
Table of contents
- Key takeaways
- What the Two Duqm Consortia Plan to Build
- How Hydrom's Incentive Package Is Meant to Speed Decisions
- A Smaller Round After Eight Earlier Projects
- Why the Fourth Round Starts With Data Centre Power
- What could help or hold back the third-round projects
- What to be careful about
- Frequently asked questions
What the Two Duqm Consortia Plan to Build
The first award goes to Petrogas E&P, an Omani oil and gas company, working with Bio3 Energy, an Italian renewables developer. They plan a green ammonium nitrate facility rated at 625,000 tonnes a year. About 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen production a year will feed that plant on site. Green hydrogen is hydrogen made with renewable electricity rather than from fossil fuels.
The second award goes to a group of three companies. PLN Indonesia Power Renewables will build a green ammonia plant with capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year. Its partners are Alawi Enterprise, an investment firm based in Oman, and HBA Offshore International, an energy provider from Singapore.
Hydrom gives one hydrogen figure for both projects: 121,000 tonnes by 2032. If the ammonium nitrate plant accounts for roughly 50,000 tonnes, about 71,000 tonnes are left for the ammonia scheme. That split is our own calculation, not a number either consortium has published. Both projects turn hydrogen into a product that can be shipped or sold, rather than selling the gas itself.
How Hydrom's Incentive Package Is Meant to Speed Decisions
Hydrom opened the third auction round in August 2025. Its stated aim was to bring projects to a final investment decision more quickly. A final investment decision is the point at which a developer commits the capital to build.
The support has three parts. Land fees are cut by 90%. Base royalties are reduced. Corporate tax exemptions can last up to 10 years. Each winner also receives land of between 100km and 300km inside the special economic zone at Duqm, and the tax breaks and fee cuts run for a decade.
The three measures work at different stages. Lower land fees and royalties reduce costs from the start. A tax exemption is only worth something once a plant earns taxable profit. That means the full value of the package depends on both plants being built and running well before the 10-year window closes. Hydrom has not published a construction schedule for either project.
A Smaller Round After Eight Earlier Projects
The first two auctions were much larger. Hydrom signed agreements with eight projects in Duqm and Salalah. Their combined potential was up to 1.2 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year.
The third round adds a much smaller amount. Two consortia are targeting 121,000 tonnes by 2032. The two figures do not measure quite the same thing. The earlier total is a ceiling of potential output, while the new one is a production goal with a deadline. Even so, the difference in scale is large.
The third round also centres on finished chemicals. Both winners plan to sell ammonium nitrate or ammonia, not hydrogen itself. Duqm is now the site for both new awards. Salalah, which hosted some of the earlier deals, has no project in this round.
Why the Fourth Round Starts With Data Centre Power
Hydrom has also opened a fourth auction round, and it is organised differently. It starts from electricity demand for data centres and offers opportunities in both energy and digital infrastructure. Companies can submit expressions of interest until February next year.
Hydrom says the change brings a "demand-led approach to project allocation that supports the development of domestic hydrogen applications." Put simply, land would go to projects tied to a known customer inside Oman, not to supply capacity looking for buyers.
The two winners in the third round each have a clear product: ammonium nitrate and ammonia. The fourth round would link new projects to a local source of power demand from the outset. Hydrom has not yet said what land or fiscal terms the fourth round will offer, so it is not possible to compare it with the third round's package.
| Lead developer | Partners | End product | Product capacity | Green hydrogen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petrogas E&P (Oman) | Bio3 Energy (Italy) | Green ammonium nitrate | 625,000 t/yr | About 50,000 t/yr |
| PLN Indonesia Power Renewables | Alawi Enterprise (Oman), HBA Offshore International (Singapore) | Green ammonia | 400,000 t/yr | Not stated separately |
What could help or hold back the third-round projects
The case for
- A 90% land fee cut and lower base royalties reduce operating costs from the first year.
- Both projects make finished products, so they do not depend on finding buyers for hydrogen gas.
- Corporate tax exemptions of up to 10 years add value once the plants are profitable.
The case against
- The 2032 target is about six years away, and no construction schedule has been published.
- The tax exemptions lose value if building takes up a large part of the 10-year window.
- The third round's volume is small compared with the 1.2 million tonnes of potential from the first two auctions.
What to be careful about
- Hydrom has published only a combined hydrogen target, so it is hard to track each consortium's progress against its own share.
- The incentive package is time-limited, and delays in construction would cut the value of the tax exemptions.
- The fourth round's land and fiscal terms are not yet known, which makes it hard to compare with the third round.
The bottom line
The third round is smaller than the first two, but it is clearly defined. Two named consortia plan two products, 625,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and 400,000 tonnes of ammonia, at one site with a fixed deadline. Hydrom's package makes the first years cheaper through land fee and royalty cuts. The tax exemption pays off only if the plants are built and profitable within the 10-year window. The fourth round changes the approach, matching land to local demand from data centres instead of offering it to supply projects. The real tests are whether the Duqm projects reach final investment decisions, and how many companies respond to the data centre round before February.
What to watch
- Hydrom's call for expressions of interest in the data centre power round closes in February next year, and that will show how much demand the new format attracts.
- Watch for final investment decisions from Petrogas E&P with Bio3 Energy and from the PLN Indonesia Power Renewables group; no date has been set for either.
- Both consortia are working toward the 2032 deadline for their combined 121,000 tonnes of green hydrogen.
Frequently asked questions
Who won Oman's third green hydrogen auction?
Two consortia won. Petrogas E&P is working with Bio3 Energy on green ammonium nitrate. PLN Indonesia Power Renewables is working with Alawi Enterprise and HBA Offshore International on green ammonia.
What tax breaks does Oman offer hydrogen developers?
The third round offers a 90% land fee reduction, lower base royalties and corporate tax exemptions of up to 10 years. Winners also receive land inside the Duqm special economic zone.
How much hydrogen has Oman awarded across all its auctions?
Across its first two rounds, the programme signed up eight projects spread between Duqm and Salalah, which together could reach as much as 1.2 million tonnes a year. A third round now brings in two further projects, aiming for 121,000 tonnes by 2032.
What is Hydrom's fourth hydrogen auction about?
The fourth round is built around power for data centres and covers energy and digital infrastructure. Hydrom says it will allocate projects based on demand to support hydrogen use inside Oman, and expressions of interest are open until February next year.
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