India-based ACME Group has committed approximately US$4.2 billion to develop the second and third phases of its green hydrogen and green ammonia project in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), Oman — an expansion that, on completion, would make the complex one of the largest green ammonia facilities in the Middle East at roughly 900,000 tonnes a year.
The commitment follows the signing of Project Development and Usufruct Agreements between ACME, Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom) and the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ), formally integrating the project into Oman's national hydrogen framework. The two new phases will occupy roughly 80 square kilometers in Duqm, each designed to produce about 71,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and around 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually, with commercial operations targeted for 2030 and 2033 respectively.
ACME is not a typical auction winner — it got into Duqm before Oman's auction system existed. The project began as one of Oman's "Legacy Initiatives": developments conceived before the Ministry of Energy and Minerals established a clear regulatory framework, which were later folded into the system through term sheets signed in March 2023. ACME's project vehicle, Green Hydrogen and Chemicals (GHC), secured a land usufruct agreement with OPAZ covering 12 km² for the first phase; early phase-one documents also named Norway's Scatec as a JV partner in GHC, although the current ownership structure has not been re-disclosed in the sources reviewed. As Hydrom's competitive auction rounds opened — bids for the first Duqm blocks closed in March 2023 — ACME expanded its land holding through the first tendering round rather than entering cold.
That early entry is now paying off in construction time. Phase 1 — designed for 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year — is already under construction, scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2026, and would deliver one of the Gulf's first operating green ammonia exports, following Jordan's Aqaba complex which signed its $1 billion agreement earlier this year.
The commercial anchor for phase 1 is a long-term offtake agreement with Norway's Yara International — reported by Renewable Watch and independently corroborated by Oxford Business Group, which describes a 30-year arrangement running from 2027 covering the full 100,000-tonne output, delivered via a flexible pipeline and jetty direct to ammonia carriers. Neither company has published the contract, but two independent trade sources now describe the same terms.
Technology selections are moving in parallel. In January 2025, ACME announced that China's Sungrow Hydrogen would supply its new-generation alkaline electrolysers for the Duqm plant — one of the first large-scale deployments of the product line. EPC and technology selections for Phases 2–3 have not yet been disclosed.
| Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green ammonia | ~100,000 t/yr | ~400,000 t/yr | ~400,000 t/yr |
| Green hydrogen | Not broken out | ~71,000 t/yr | ~71,000 t/yr |
| Status | Under construction | Committed | Committed |
| Target commissioning | End-2026 | 2030 | 2033 |
| Offtake | 30-year agreement with Yara International reported from 2027 (Renewable Watch; corroborated by Oxford Business Group) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Technology / supply | Sungrow Hydrogen alkaline electrolysers (announced January 2025) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
The scale matters beyond one project. Hydrom says its awarded green hydrogen projects across the Al Wusta and Dhofar governorates now represent more than US$50 billion in planned investment, supported by nearly 35 GW of renewable energy capacity and targeting around 1.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030. Oman's pitch is structural: world-class wind and solar co-located with deep-water export terminals at Duqm, a single-counterparty land-and-permit framework through Hydrom, and free-zone fiscal terms through OPAZ.
For the supply chain, Duqm is a bellwether. The project stack — electrolyzers, ammonia synthesis loops, and the solar and wind generation behind them — will be procured across three phases on one site, giving equipment vendors a repeatable Gulf customer rather than a one-off order.
The Yara offtake is described consistently by two independent outlets (Renewable Watch; Oxford Business Group, which adds the 30-year term and 2027 start); neither company has published the contract directly. The historical Scatec JV participation in GHC comes from SEZAD authority publications at the usufruct-signing stage; the current phase-one ownership structure has not been re-disclosed in the sources reviewed. The Sungrow Hydrogen electrolyser contract is per ACME’s January 2025 announcement as reported by Oxford Business Group.