Solar

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is planning to develop a 100MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant at Amin, located in the southern region of the sultanate.

Developers have been invited to submit expressions of interest by 31 January for the 100MW solar project, with the client planning to receive bids in May 2018.

The solar plant is planned to be PDO’s first independent power producer (IPP) project. PDO will be the sole off-taker for the project, and will buy all of the electricity produced by the solar farm.

The contract will involve the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the solar plant for the duration of the power purchase agreement (PPA), which will be for a period of 23 years.

State utility Oman Power & Water Company (OPWP) is also moving ahead with plans to develop solar energy on a large-scale as part of the sultanate’s plans to diversify its energy resources.

In December, OPWP issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a photovoltaic (PV) solar independent power project in Ibri, which is about 300 kilometres inland from Muscat. The proposed plant with have a power generation capacity of 500 MW

OPWP says that the RFQ is for developers and is not applicable for engineering, procurement and construction contractors.

The closing date for submitting documents is the 22 February 2018.

MEED reported in early November that OPWP had appointed Germany’s Fichtner and the UK’s DLA Piper as the technical and legal advisers for the scheme. In October, MEED reported that OPWP had appointed US/India’s Synergy Consulting as financial adviser for the solar project.

The proposed IPP will be the second utility-scale renewables project planned in Oman, with the UAE’s Masdar announcing in 2014 it was planning to develop a 50MW wind farm in the southern part of the sultanate in partnership with the local Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco).

08 JANUARY 2018 10:29 AM BY ANDREW ROSCOE HTTPS://WWW.MEED.COM/OMAN-OIL-FIRM-PLANS-100MW-SOLAR-PLANT/