Summary

• Yamna is expected to sign an agreement with Oman for an AI data centre in Salalah, with the first phase projected to exceed £1 billion.
• The UK government forecasts more than 100 skilled jobs in Britain, linked to exported expertise and returns for British-backed investors.
• The agreement's completion, financing, capacity, customer contracts, construction timetable and electricity arrangements have not been confirmed. Yamna's separate hydrogen project in Dhofar does not establish a power supply for the proposed facility.

UK-founded infrastructure developer Yamna is preparing an agreement to build a large AI data centre in Salalah, Oman, with the first phase expected to involve more than £1 billion of investment.

The proposal was disclosed by the British government on 21 October during the state visit of Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, forming part of wider efforts to increase investment between the two countries in energy, technology and other strategically important sectors.

The government expects the project to support more than 100 highly skilled jobs in Britain through the export of technical expertise and financial returns associated with British-backed investment.

Yamna is described as being set to sign an agreement with Oman, rather than having completed a final construction or investment contract. The company has not disclosed a confirmed computing capacity, construction timetable or customer commitments for the proposed Salalah facility.

Salalah becomes a proposed AI infrastructure location

Oman is seeking to develop its digital economy alongside established energy and industrial activities, with international connectivity and access to infrastructure investment forming part of its wider commercial proposition.

Salalah, in the Dhofar region of southern Oman, offers access to coastal infrastructure and connections with international markets.

Developing a large AI computing facility there would require more than constructing buildings to accommodate servers. The operator would need reliable electricity, cooling systems, high-capacity communications, specialised computing equipment and customers prepared to purchase the resulting services.

The proposed first phase is valued at more than £1 billion, although the government has not published a breakdown distinguishing construction, electrical infrastructure, computing hardware and other project expenditure.

That distinction is important because AI data centres can have very different financial characteristics depending on the proportion of investment committed to buildings, power infrastructure and processors.

Advanced computing equipment may represent a substantial share of initial costs and can lose commercial competitiveness as newer hardware generations become available.

Infrastructure operators therefore need to coordinate construction and equipment procurement with customer demand, reducing the risk that expensive systems remain unused while other parts of a project are incomplete.

Yamna has not disclosed how much computing capacity the first phase would provide, whether measured by installed electrical power, accelerator numbers or contracted workloads.

The absence of those specifications prevents a reliable technical comparison with other large AI installations being developed or proposed in the Gulf and Europe.

The developer combines energy and digital infrastructure

Yamna operates as a development and investment business spanning green hydrogen, associated energy infrastructure and proposed AI data centre campuses.

Its digital infrastructure strategy includes combining computing facilities with dedicated electricity generation and storage, seeking to reduce dependence on constrained grid connections where suitable alternatives can be developed.

That approach reflects the importance of power availability to large computing projects, particularly in markets where demand for AI infrastructure is growing faster than some electricity networks can accommodate.

Reliable electricity is essential because AI computing equipment can run continuously and must remain within the operating limits of its electrical and cooling systems.

Facilities relying on renewable generation must also consider periods when available output falls, potentially requiring battery storage, backup generation or other arrangements to maintain service continuity.

Yamna’s existing development activities in Oman provide relevant regional experience, although they do not establish that a complete power solution has been secured for the proposed Salalah data centre.

The company is part of a consortium with EDF and Japan’s J-Power developing a separate green hydrogen and ammonia project in the Dhofar region.

That project was awarded a development area in 2024 and is intended to combine renewable electricity generation with hydrogen production and an ammonia facility.

The earlier project is commercially and technically distinct from the AI data centre announced during the Sultan’s visit.

No official source reviewed establishes that the hydrogen project’s electricity generation will supply the computing facility, that the projects will share a grid connection or that their construction programmes have been combined.

Any relationship between the two developments would therefore require separate technical and contractual confirmation.

Electricity and cooling will shape the design

The eventual power arrangement will influence how much computing equipment Yamna can install and how reliably it can operate the facility.

Large AI systems place demanding requirements on electricity distribution, including equipment capable of supplying high-density racks and managing changes in computing load.

Developers must also consider the reliability of transformers, switchgear and other electrical components, whose procurement can affect construction schedules.

Cooling is another substantial requirement, particularly where ambient temperatures create additional challenges for rejecting heat from densely installed computing equipment.

Different cooling technologies have different demands for electricity, water and maintenance, making the selection of equipment relevant to both operating costs and environmental performance.

Yamna describes climate-optimised cooling and energy monitoring as part of its wider digital infrastructure development approach.

However, it has not disclosed the cooling architecture planned for Salalah or published site-specific electricity and water consumption forecasts.

The development should not therefore be described as a completed renewable-powered AI campus or assigned an environmental performance figure based solely on the company’s broader strategy.

British infrastructure developers face similar dependencies when establishing new facilities domestically. Techopia previously examined the impact of electricity connection delays on a planned Nscale data centre in Essex, illustrating how access to power can determine the viability of otherwise substantial computing proposals.

Yamna’s Oman project faces different local infrastructure conditions, but the relationship between electrical capacity, development timing and customer commitments remains central to its commercial prospects.

British jobs depend on project execution

The UK government expects the proposed project to support more than 100 skilled jobs across Britain.

The announcement connects those opportunities with exporting technical expertise and generating returns for UK-backed investors rather than suggesting the computing facility will be physically located in Britain.

Possible work associated with a project of this scale could involve engineering, project development, technology integration and specialist infrastructure services, although the government has not provided an occupational breakdown of the projected positions.

It has also not disclosed where the British roles would be based, when recruitment would begin or how many would represent additional permanent employment.

The figure must therefore be treated as a government forecast, not evidence that the jobs have already been created.

The eventual economic benefits will also depend on procurement decisions, including the proportion of services and equipment supplied by British businesses.

UK origins and investment backing do not automatically mean that a large share of the computers, electrical equipment or construction materials will be purchased from Britain.

International data centre projects typically involve specialist suppliers operating across several countries, with expenditure distributed according to technical specifications, available manufacturing capacity and commercial terms.

Nor has the government published a corresponding employment forecast for Oman, making it premature to quantify the number of local jobs the project may eventually create.

Wider UK–Oman investment arrangements remain separate

During the Sultan’s visit, Britain and Oman also outlined plans to strengthen cooperation across renewable energy, technology, critical minerals, financial services and other sectors.

UK Export Finance is increasing its financing capacity for eligible British exports to Oman to as much as £7 billion.

That represents the potential capacity of an export finance programme, not money already lent to Yamna or committed to constructing the Salalah data centre.

The wider investment programme builds on the UK–Oman Sovereign Investment Partnership established in 2022, under which the British government says Oman has invested £1.7 billion in the UK.

Those bilateral arrangements may support future commercial relationships, but they do not replace the agreements, financing and technical work necessary for an individual infrastructure project.

The government’s 21 October statement also anticipated a wider agreement intended to accelerate investment between the two countries.

Subsequent accounts confirm diplomatic meetings and other cooperation agreements during the visit, but the sources reviewed do not independently establish completion of Yamna’s specific data centre agreement or disclose its final terms.

Commercial milestones remain ahead

AI data centre proposals involve several stages before they produce operational computing capacity.

The parties must establish binding development arrangements, secure suitable land and infrastructure rights, complete engineering, arrange financing and procure equipment.

Commercial customers may also require information about the computing systems, connectivity, operating arrangements and service guarantees before committing to purchase capacity.

Yamna has not identified a confirmed anchor tenant or published contracts for future AI computing services at Salalah.

Without those commitments, the announced investment scale cannot be treated as evidence of guaranteed revenue or fully financed construction.

The company also has not published a confirmed start date or a timetable for commissioning the first phase.

Its development experience and regional energy activities may assist with advancing the proposal, but the technical and commercial terms specific to the AI facility remain to be established.

As of the latest verified 21 October information, the government describes an agreement expected to be signed and an initial investment expected to exceed £1 billion.

The next substantive evidence will be confirmation of the contractual arrangements, an identified electricity supply, financing commitments, customer demand and a deliverable construction programme.

Until those milestones are documented, Yamna’s Salalah development remains a substantial proposed investment rather than a confirmed operating AI data centre.