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On a bright January morning a couple of hours after dawn, a container ship edges out of port into the Gulf of Oman carrying 950 tonnes of ferrochrome, a key ingredient for the production of stainless steel.

It is one of several monthly shipments from Oman to the Far East to help meet the high demand for steel from construction, automotive and manufacturing industries. Ferrochrome is an alloy made from the country’s rich deposits of chromite ore.

Producing it is an energy-intensive business which generates high carbon emissions. But with , the company involved, Al Tamman Indsil Ferrochrome (ATIFC), will be able to cut its annual carbon emissions by a quarter while increasing its production.

“We feel like pioneers. We were the first ferrochrome smelting company to be established in the region and now we are the first industrial company in Oman to combine directly with a solar facility,“ says Narayana Reddy, who heads ATIFC operations at an economic free zone on the outskirts of Sohar, northern Oman.

The Qabas solar project, launched by Oman Shell, comprises 88,000 solar panels and generates 25 MW, the equivalent of powering 10,000 homes. The aim is to assist in facilitating cost-competitive solar power to companies based in SOHAR Freezone and help them to reduce their carbon emissions.

ATIFC became Oman Shell’s first customer after seeing an opportunity to reduce its annual cost of electricity per unit, lock in long-term electricity pricing and operate more efficiently.

“In the hottest months of the year we could only produce 50% of our normal capacity because of the electricity costs which are a lot more expensive in the summer peak,” says Reddy. ”But now we have solar power from Qabas we can continue full production throughout the year.”

While reducing its average annual carbon emissions by 25%, the company will be able to increase annual production by 5% without spending more on energy.

The solar modules span 50 hectares within the free zone and track the movement of the sun to ensure maximum energy generation. The solar plant’s control system ensures that the ferrochrome production facility benefits from a seamless balance between electricity imported from the grid and power generated by Qabas. 

ATIFC has received solar power since October 2020, when the plant first went online.

Fuelled by an abundance of low-cost oil and gas, Gulf countries have high carbon emissions per capita and face a rapid growth in demand for energy. Carbon emissions in Oman increased from 25 million tonnes in the year 2000 to 83 million tonnes in 2018.

To counter rising emissions, Oman aims to generate 30% of its national electricity demand from renewable sources by 2030. There is no shortage of sunshine in Oman all year round and several large-scale solar plants are in development which could add up to 4,000 MW of solar power capacity by 2024.

The government has encouraged the public and private sectors to develop clean energy plans to contribute to the national goal and Sohar Port and Freezone was determined to play a role.

“There are various businesses operating here and they are mostly powered by using gas-fired power generation,“ says Fahad Al Issai, a senior customer service officer at SOHAR Freezone. “We hope the project will encourage other businesses to make the transition to solar power.”