ESG strategy needed for a smooth transition to renewable energy
The ninth edition of the Oman Energy Forum have agreed on the importance of adopting clear indicators to measure Environmental, social and corporate governance practices, training nationals and developing technologies for a smooth transition to renewable energy.
Dr Firas al Abduwani, Acting Managing Director of Hydrom Oman Hydrogen Company, said that Oman’s efforts in this regard are highly promising and will bear fruits in the near future.
“Oman is in a unique position and hydrogen by default is a low cost energy. Oman has greater potential to be a hydro-driven society as targeted in the Oman Vision 2040,” he said.
Faiza bint Mohammed bin Said al Harthiyah from the Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit explained that a smooth and orderly transition in the energy sector will contribute to increasing ‘green’ business opportunities and increasing the total workforce in Oman by 20-30 per cent, especially in the energy sector and the hydrogen economy.
To make the transition smooth and sustainable, Oman has set five goals for its path, namely environment, sustainability, energy system costs, economic impact, social impact, and security of supply. Technology is expected to play an important role of up to 90per cent to reach the goal of neutrality by 2050, but this requires it to mature more, especially with regard to longterm energy storage methods and technologies, and building new infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging networks.
Dr Firas further described the local steps in the transformation process as ‘good’ and that Oman has potential to be driven by hydrogen energy on time and as planned in Oman Vision 2040.
On applying the ESG criterion to measure the sustainability impact of investment in companies, Abdulrahman al Yahyai, CEO of the Oman Society for Petroleum Services (OPAL), said, “Environmental, social and corporate governance practices have become essential to attracting and diversifying investments, as the interest of investors around the world has gone beyond economic returns and goes to evaluating initiatives.”
The country is doing in reducing carbon emissions, liability and labour issues. In the Sultanate of Oman and the energy sector in particular, operators adhere to these practices, as well as foreign and major companies. In order to keep pace with the shift towards renewable energy and empower workers, OPAL works in cooperation with many international agencies to train and qualify youth and workers in the renewable energy sector. Supplying future energy projects with qualified national competencies.
“There is no doubt that environment, social and governance (ESG) will increasingly be included in almost all business conversations in the Sultanate of Oman with the passage of time, and that these indicators will turn from things that are desirable to achieve to the needs to be achieved,” said Alina Dique, one of the organisers of the forum.
At the forum, five graduates of Sultan Qaboos University were presented with CCED Oman Student Awards for the Advancement of Post-graduate Education 2022.
The winners this year in the PHD category included Dr Abdullah al Shraiqi and Dr Huda al Battashi. While the three winners in the Masters category included Abdulmajeed al Wahaibi, MA Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering; Khadeeja al Aamri, MA Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering; and Halima al Hinai, MA Environment Engineering.