£1bn+ AI Data Centre for Salalah: Yamna's Oman Deal Explained

Salalah could get one of Oman's biggest AI infrastructure projects so far. During the Sultan's state visit to London, the UK government announced that Yamna, a UK-founded infrastructure developer, is set to sign an agreement with Oman to build a large-scale artificial intelligence data centre in Salalah. The first phase alone is expected to cost more than £1bn.

📌 Key Takeaways

• According to a UK government release dated 21 October 2026, Yamna is "set to sign an agreement with Oman" to build a large-scale AI data centre in Salalah.
• The same release says the first phase is expected to exceed £1bn and will create more than 100 highly skilled jobs across the UK. It gives no figure for jobs in Oman.
• The National describes the deal as participation in a $1 billion data centre in Salalah, to be signed when His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik meets Prime Minister Andy Burnham on 21 October.
• The announcement did not include capacity in megawatts, a construction timeline or the name of the Omani counterparty.
• Yamna already holds a stake in a giga-scale green hydrogen concession in Dhofar. That gives it a possible local renewable power base for a data campus.

🏗️ What Was Announced

The data centre is part of a wider package that London published to coincide with the state visit. The GOV.UK announcement describes Yamna as "a global infrastructure development and investment company backed by British investment funds". It says the company will build a large-scale AI data centre in Salalah, with a first phase expected to exceed £1bn.

The headline numbers differ slightly between sources. The UK release puts the first phase at more than £1bn, while The National reports a $1 billion data centre. Neither source gives a total project value beyond the first phase. Readers should treat the figures as phase-one estimates, not as the total project cost.

The signing is part of a broader push on investment. DPA, via Yahoo News, reported that the two leaders were also expected to sign a reciprocal investment deal and a maritime security pact at Downing Street.

⚡ Who Is Yamna, and Why Salalah?

Yamna is best known in Oman for hydrogen, not for data centres. As Oman Observer reported in April 2026, the company is part of a consortium with EDF Group and J-POWER. In April 2024, Hydrom awarded that consortium a concession for a giga-scale green hydrogen project in Dhofar Governorate. The plan covers about 341 km² and includes around 4.5 GW of wind and solar, a 2.5 GW electrolyser and battery storage, with output going to an ammonia facility in the Salalah Free Zone.

On 2 April 2026, the company announced a new digital infrastructure business. It plans to build integrated "power and data" campuses for AI and hyperscale computing. These would combine utility-scale renewables with battery storage and, where suitable, hydrogen-based power. Yamna said at the time that its "first mega flagship project" was being developed in the Middle East, but it did not name the country. Oman Observer noted then that Oman had not been confirmed as the location.

What is new: the UK government announcement is the first official statement that ties Yamna's AI data centre plans to Salalah.

🌊 Salalah's existing digital base

Salalah already has some digital infrastructure in place. In August 2025, Ooredoo Oman opened a Salalah data centre and submarine cable landing station. It starts with space for 125 racks, with phased expansion planned to 500, and the company says it will support cloud, AI and edge computing. A large AI campus would be a much bigger kind of project than this colocation capacity.

🎓 AI in Classrooms Also on the Table

The data centre was not the only technology item in the package. The UK release also lists new agreements on the responsible use of AI in education, on English language learning and on helping teachers use AI safely in the classroom. It also mentions cooperation between the UK Space Agency and the Omani government on space policy and research. The release does not say which Omani bodies will deliver the education agreements or how they will be funded.

⚠️ The Caveats

• The agreement had not been signed when it was announced. All coverage we found on 21 October described the signing as scheduled or expected. We could not find an Omani government statement confirming the terms.
• The job numbers favour the UK. The only job figure published is for the UK. Omani readers will want to know how many jobs will be based in Dhofar and what Omanisation commitments apply.
• Power is the real test. Yamna's model depends on dedicated renewable and storage capacity. Its Dhofar hydrogen concession shows it has access to land and a renewables plan in the region. However, nothing published so far explains how power for the data centre will be phased alongside the hydrogen project.
• Salalah faces strong competition. The region is competing with other Gulf hubs for hyperscale and AI tenants. We covered a separate Omani bid for this market in our report on O-Green's plan for 200MW of AI data centres by 2028.

🇴🇲 Why this matters for Oman

Oman Vision 2040 aims to turn Oman's geography, renewable resources and subsea cables into a digital economy. A phase one worth more than £1bn in Salalah, from a developer that already holds renewables land in Dhofar, would be one of the clearest tests yet of whether Oman's green power can attract AI computing. If it goes ahead, it would also spread digital investment beyond Muscat to the south. The next things to watch are an Omani-side announcement, a capacity figure in megawatts, a construction timeline and commitments on jobs and skills for Omanis. These will show whether the plan becomes a working AI campus.