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Oman opened a green hydrogen auction in which data centres will be the anchor customers for the renewable power and hydrogen that bidders build.
The round makes data-centre demand the starting point for allocating renewable and hydrogen projects. Tbreak has covered new data centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and this is the power side of that build-out.
The auction comes from Hydrom, Oman’s national body for green hydrogen, set up in 2022 and fully owned by Energy Development Oman. Hydrom announced Round 4 on 12 November 2026, in the same release that named the winners of its third round, according to Times of Oman, which carried the release.
How Round 4 works
Officially called the Green-Powered Data Centre Hydrogen Auction, Round 4 covers Dhofar, Oman’s southern governorate. Hydrom says it offers investment opportunities across the energy and digital infrastructure sectors. With data centres as anchor offtakers, the auction will link renewable energy and green hydrogen production to their need for reliable electricity. Hydrom describes it as “a demand-led approach to project allocation”.
Data centres in Oman can use hydrogen firming as an extra energy option, alongside renewable energy and grid electricity. The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology says it gives investors more ways to meet their energy needs from clean sources.
Registration for expressions of interest is open until February 2027 through Hydrom’s official auction platform, with full guidelines on Hydrom’s website. The release doesn’t give the round’s capacity, investment value, or tariffs, nor the size of the data-centre load or the bid criteria.
Hydrom’s managing director framed the round as applying the same market-led thinking to a new opportunity.
With Round 4, we are applying the same market-led thinking to a different opportunity. We see growing demand for reliable electricity from the digital economy, and we believe Oman can bring together its renewable resources, green hydrogen capabilities and connectivity to serve that market.
Eng Abdulaziz Said Al Shidhani, managing director, Hydrom
A director general at the same ministry, Dr Seema Al Kaabi, says power availability, reliability, and long-term operating costs are fundamental to where data-centre investors build. She adds Oman is working to expand capacity for large-scale AI and cloud computing under the Oman Digital Triangle. Economy Middle East points out that AI workloads are sharply increasing energy demand. Saudi Arabia has its own build-out: HUMAIN Infra lined up financing for AI chips and power, and LG has launched a bigger cooling system for AI data centres.
Two Round 3 projects win in Duqm
On the same day, at COP31 in Antalya, Hydrom awarded two integrated green hydrogen projects in Duqm, an industrial port city on Oman’s Arabian Sea coast. Together, they plan to produce about 121,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2032. Hydrom hasn’t disclosed the investment value of either project.
| Project | Developers | Planned output by 2032 | Green hydrogen used | Power and site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green ammonium nitrate (fertiliser and mining) | Petrogas E&P (Oman) and Bio3Energy Srl (Italy) | About 625,000 tonnes a year | About 50,000 tonnes a year | 1.16 GW of renewables on 100 square km, with another 100 square km reserved |
| Green hydrogen and ammonia for export | PLN Indonesia Power Renewables (Indonesia), Alawi Enterprises (Oman), and HBA Offshore International PTE (Singapore) | About 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year | Not given separately | About 1.45 GW of solar and 1 GW of electrolysis on 100 square km |
Securities.io notes the figures remain targets rather than committed output. Round 3 let developers define footprints within a land block of up to 300 square km (minimum 100 square km), and gave them nine months to prepare bids. Incentives included “a 90% reduction in land lease fees during development”, lower base royalties in the first production years, and “corporate tax exemptions of up to ten years”.
Al Shidhani’s message was blunt: “The development of international hydrogen markets will be driven by demand and commercial competitiveness, not production targets alone.”
Where Oman’s hydrogen plan stands
According to Economy Middle East, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals said earlier in 2026 that investments from the first two auction rounds exceeded $44 billion. Planned renewable capacity reached 26.6 GW. Oman’s strategy targets about 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030. Economy Middle East notes the Round 3 projects target 2032 and shouldn’t simply be added to that 2030 figure.
Oman is preparing to begin its first commercial-scale green hydrogen production in 2027, with construction underway on the first phase of ACME Group’s green hydrogen and ammonia project in Duqm. Hydrom has also completed master planning and pre-FEED studies for shared hydrogen infrastructure, and FEED studies are underway. The next date is February 2027, when registration for Round 4 closes.
