Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has announced that request for proposals has been issued to all prequalified bidders to participate in a competitive tender for two co-located independent power projects (IPP) coming up in the sultanate.

 

Nine leading energy project developer/developer consortiums are in the race for the ‘Manah Solar I and ‘Manah Solar II IPPs which will offer an aggregate capacity of 1GW, effectively making the combined scheme the largest renewable energy venture of its kind when it comes into operation during the summer of 2023, said a statement from OPWP. 

 

These include leading power project developers such as Saudi-based Acwa Power; Hong Kong-based Jinko Power; Japan's Marubeni, Power Construction Corporation of China and French group Total Solar International along with consortiums of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) and French group EDF Renewables; Eni (Italy)/Softbank Energy (Japan); Korea Western Power Company/Hanyang Corporation/Solar Reserve Limited and Nafath Renewable Energy; Nigeria's Tag Energy and Omani group Al Shanfari.

 

The scope of each project covers the development, financing, design, engineering, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of a 500 megawatts-peak (MWp) solar PV power plant and associated facilities, said the statement. 

 

An area of over 1,200 hectares has been earmarked in the Wilayat of Manah for the implementation of the two IPPs.

 

Oman is targeting for 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, it added.

 

OPWP is being advised by a consortium of consultants including Synergy Consulting which is offering financial advisory services; Fichtner the technical services and DLA Piper the legal advice.-TradeArabia News Service