Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) issued an RFP to all prequalified bidders for a competitive tender for two Independent Power Projects (IPP). Nine energy project developer/developer consortiums are said to be competing for the Manah Solar I and Manah Solar II IPPs which will offer an aggregate capacity of 1GW.
OPWP states that the project will be the largest renewable energy venture when it will be fully operational in 2023. For the implementation of the two IPPs an area of over 1,200 hectares has been reserved in the Wilayat of Manah.
The companies participating in the tender process include Acwa Power; Jinko Power; Marubeni, Power Construction Corporation of China and Total Solar International, along with consortiums of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and EDF Renewables; Eni/Softbank Energy; Korea Western Power Company/Hanyang Corporation/Solar Reserve Limited and Nafath Renewable Energy; Tag Energy and Al Shanfari.
The scope of work for successful bidders includes development, financing, design, engineering, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of a 500 megawatt-peak (MWp) solar PV power plant.
Oman wants renewables to contribute between 10% and 16% of the sultanate’s generating capacity in the main interconnected system (MIS) by 2025, which will total about 2,800MW.
The Public Authority for Water (DIAM) is exploring desalination through solar evaporation to help sustain supplies to remote communities located beyond the reach of the country’s water distribution grids.
The company in its 2019 Annual Report issued recently stated “Diam is working with a partner to develop a solar desalination plant, where the solar energy is harnessed directly to produce fresh water through evaporation. A number of sites are being assessed to enable the development of this innovative technology”.
