Oman mulls local storage options to boost transition to renewable energy
Image Source: Arab News
Sur – Oman is considering developing local energy storage solutions to accelerate the sultanate’s transition to renewable energy sources, according to the Minister of Energy and Minerals.
H E Salim bin Nasser al Aufi said sustainable energy storage solutions will play a crucial role in achieving the sultanate’s goal of generating at least 30% of power from renewable sources by 2030 and reaching 100% by 2050.
Energy storage solutions play a critical role in transitioning to renewable energy as these address the irregular nature of energy sourced through renewable sources such as solar and wind.
The Omani government has allocated 65,000sqkm of concession land for renewable energy projects. Of this, approximately 50,000sqkm will be dedicated to green hydrogen projects, while the remaining will be used for renewable power generation projects.
On Monday, H E Aufi inaugurated a 17-megawatt peak (MWp) solar photovoltaic (PV) farm producing green energy to power the Sharqiyah Desalination Plant in Sur.
Speaking at the inauguration of the solar PV farm, H E Aufi said the government has identified four main contributors to CO2 emissions, power generation being one of the biggest contributors.
He said, “Our biggest challenge in accelerating the renewable energy share in power generation is energy storage. We are studying most of the options available for energy storage and pushing to develop local sustainable solutions. We are working on that and hopefully there will be some really great ideas so that we can provide the storage capacity needed to entirely transition to renewable energy by 2050.”
Speaking to Muscat Daily, H E Aufi said there are many internationally known storage solutions available, including lithium batteries, which are not sustainable in the long term as these involve issues of waste generation and continuous replacement etc.
“We are currently studying all the different options. There are many that we can use, but having local solutions for energy storage is by far the best and most promising,” he added.
H E Aufi informed that Nama Power and Water Procurement Company has been instructed by his ministry to work on and finalise a study on potential local energy storage solutions.
Stressing the importance of sustainable energy storage solutions in achieving Oman’s renewable energy goals, he emphasised, “Without sustainable storage solutions, achieving a 100% share of renewable energy in power generation is not possible. To meet the objective of fully transitioning to renewable energy by 2050, we must effectively store the energy generated during the day for use when needed.”
Source: Muscat Daily
