By Alban Kacher and Bart H. Meijer

(Reuters) -Major industrial groups from Oman, the Netherlands and Germany have signed an agreement for the development of the world’s first liquid hydrogen import corridor, Tata Steel Nederland said on Wednesday.

The corridor will link the port of Duqm in Oman, the port of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and key logistics hubs in Germany, including the port of Duisburg, the Dutch arm of the Indian steel maker said in a statement.

It aims to enable the import of green hydrogen - produced using renewable energy - to Europe, it added.

“This partnership reflects Oman’s commitment to playing a leading role in the global green hydrogen economy, while strengthening ties with Europe to support its sustainable clean energy transition,” Oman’s Minister of Energy and Minerals Salim Nasser Al Aufi said.

Oman has been investing to support its decarbonization targets, with the aim of producing  at least 1 million tons of renewable hydrogen a year by 2030, according to a report published by the IEA in 2023.

The sultanate “is on track to become the sixth-largest exporter of hydrogen globally, and the largest in the Middle East, by 2030,” the report states.

The agreement was signed by 11 parties during a visit by the Sultan of Oman to the Netherlands. It includes several infrastructure projects along the corridor, notably export and import facilities in the ports of Duqm, Amsterdam and Duisburg, as well as pipe and rail networks for the transport of gaseous and liquid hydrogen.

Tata Steel has been in talks with the Dutch government for more than a year about subsidies for its plans to cut pollution at its large plant in IJmuiden, on the coast west of Amsterdam. Tata has promised to convert the steel mill, one of the largest polluters in the Netherlands, to a cleaner one powered by natural gas or hydrogen.

"In our role as a large potential buyer, we can contribute to the development of a sustainable economy based on green hydrogen in our region," said Hans van den Berg, CEO of Tata Steel Nederland.

(Reporting by Alban Kacher and Bart Meijer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and David Holmes)