Shahin Launches: Oman's New All-in-One EV Charging App

Oman's Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) used the Gulf Green Mobility Forum in Salalah this week to move its electric vehicle strategy from paper to product. The ministry launched Shahin, the Sultanate's first unified national app for finding, checking and paying for EV charging, and paired it with a wave of signed private-sector agreements to build out the hardware behind it.

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Shahin, Oman's unified national digital platform for EV charging, launched at the Gulf Green Mobility Forum 2026 in Dhofar, letting drivers locate chargers and check real-time availability from a single app, according to Muscat Daily.
• MTCIT adopted a new regulatory framework and pricing structure for charging operators to encourage private investment while keeping installations commercially sustainable, per the same report.
• Omantec and Hormuz Energy agreed to build a 400-charger network rated 180kW to 450kW; IX Smart Mobility, NeoX and StarCharge will develop ultra-fast centres running up to 720kW.
• Omantec and Modern Energy signed a deal to open a domestic factory producing high-speed EV chargers in Oman, a step toward local manufacturing rather than imports.
• Hyundai Motor Group signed MOUs with MTCIT and Mwasalat covering smart-city cooperation, a 240kW ultra-fast charger at Halban with OOMCO and EVO, and a hydrogen fuel-cell bus pilot running Q3 2026 through Q3 2027, according to CleanTechnica.
• MTCIT is targeting roughly 350 charging stations nationwide by 2027, up from the more than 160 stations recorded as of Q3 2025.

📱 What Shahin Actually Does

Shahin has been in the works since MTCIT first invited the public to help name the platform in mid-2025, and an integration app called EV Group had already begun stitching together station locators, trip planning and an e-marketplace by December 2025, with Shahin handling "the hardware network, HSE framework and device compatibility" behind the scenes, as EV Group CEO Hussain al Lawati explained at the time. This week's launch at the Gulf Green Mobility Forum marks the platform's move from development into a live, national service.

According to Muscat Daily, Shahin connects charging points from multiple private operators into a single system, letting drivers check whether a charger is free before they drive to it and, per Oman Observer, pay across networks with one login rather than juggling separate apps for each charging brand.

That single-login design addresses a complaint that has followed Oman's EV rollout for the past two years: charging infrastructure existed, but it was scattered across incompatible apps run by different fuel marketers and private operators. Shahin is MTCIT's attempt to make that fragmentation the driver's problem no longer.

⚡ The Infrastructure Behind the App

An app is only as useful as the network it points to, and the forum produced several concrete commitments to grow that network:

• Omantec and Hormuz Energy will deploy a network of roughly 400 smart chargers rated between 180kW and 450kW.
• IX Smart Mobility, NeoX and StarCharge plan ultra-fast charging centres capable of up to 720kW, with options for integrated solar and battery storage.
• Dhofar Municipality and IX Smart Mobility will build a model ultra-fast charging centre with stations at municipal sites in Dhofar.
• Omantec and Modern Energy will establish a factory inside Oman to manufacture high-speed EV chargers, a move toward building a domestic supply chain instead of relying on imported hardware.
• EVO and Hyundai Kefico will bring ultra-fast charging technology rated up to 240kW, while also exploring local assembly or manufacturing.

The ministry also confirmed the first EV charging station in Buraimi governorate, sited at the University of Buraimi, and a new station at the Salalah Free Zone, extending coverage beyond the Muscat-Dhofar corridor where most existing stations are concentrated.

🚗 Hyundai Signs On for Smart Cities and Hydrogen Buses

Hyundai Motor Group used the same forum to formalise a broader partnership with Oman that goes beyond charging hardware. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with MTCIT covering electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel-cell mobility and smart-city technologies, and a separate pilot agreement with national transport operator Mwasalat to run a 24-seat ELEC CITY hydrogen fuel-cell bus on Muscat public transit routes from the third quarter of 2026 through the third quarter of 2027, according to Oman Observer. Separately, OOMCO and EVO will install a 240kW DC ultra-fast charger at a service station in Halban.

The MOU with MTCIT runs for an initial one year with automatic renewal provisions, and it explicitly frames the smart-city cooperation around His Majesty Sultan Haitham City, the flagship low-emission urban project the ministry is developing with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning, according to CleanTechnica.

📊 Setting the Regulatory Rules

Alongside the technology announcements, MTCIT adopted a regulatory framework governing how charging points get installed and expanded, plus a pricing structure intended to keep EV adoption attractive to drivers while ensuring operators can recover their investment, Muscat Daily reported. That regulatory step matters as much as the app itself: without clear rules on where operators can install chargers and what they can charge for a session, private companies have limited incentive to invest in stations beyond the busiest routes.

The forum's broader agenda, discussed in a parallel "Gulf Green Mobility System Lab" session, also covered smart-grid integration challenges and green hydrogen supply chains for ports and logistics, with the goal of producing a shared roadmap for regulatory gaps across GCC states, according to Times of Oman.

🇴🇲 Why This Matters for Oman

For a country that had installed around 160 public and private charging stations by the third quarter of 2025, moving from a fragmented network of single-operator apps to one government-backed platform is a meaningful step in de-risking EV ownership for ordinary drivers, not just early adopters. The manufacturing agreement between Omantec and Modern Energy is arguably the most consequential piece for Oman's technology ambitions specifically: building EV chargers domestically, rather than importing them, keeps more of the supply chain, jobs and technical know-how inside the Sultanate, echoing the localisation goals that run through Vision 2040 and that this site has tracked in coverage of Oman's growing roster of startup and technology support programmes. If MTCIT hits its stated target of roughly 350 stations by 2027, Shahin's real test will be whether the app keeps pace with a rapidly multiplying, multi-operator charging network, rather than becoming another underused government portal.