Oman’s maiden wind-powered electricity generation venture will have a strong In-Country Value (ICV) component, a top official was quoted as saying.

The successful bidder must prioritise preference to indigenous Omani goods and services in the implementation of the scheme, Hamed bin Salim al Magdheri, CEO of Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO) was quoted in the Oman Observer report.

RAECO is executing the project valued at $125 million along with UAE-based Masdar, the report said.

 “In-Country Value capture is an important objective of the project and is clearly articulated in the project scope and tender documents,” said Al Maghderi.

“The contractor is obligated to not only source locally manufactured goods, such as transformers, cables, building materials and so on, during the construction phase, but also train Omani technical staff who will take over operation and management of the plant over the long term,” he added.

About five international companies are in contention for an Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) contract to implement the 50 megawatt (MW) project at Thamrait in Dhofar Governorate, he said.

“Development of the wind farm project is progressing well. Design work has been completed in line with project implementation schedules. We expect to be in a better position (to make an announcement) in the second quarter of this year. The project is targeted for completion by around the first quarter of 2018,” Al Maghderi said.