Wadi Noor Solar Power Company has installed the last solar photovoltaic (PV) module on the Manah 1 independent power project (IPP) in Oman.

It marks the start of the solar farm’s hot commissioning as the project company edges closer to completing the 500MW solar IPP project, Oman’s second utility-scale renewable energy plant, next year. 

French utility developer and investor EDF Renewables and South Korea’s Korea Western Power Company (Kowepo) won the contract to develop and operate the Manah 1 IPP in March 2023.

They subsequently formed Wadi Noor Solar Company, which they equally own.

The team confirmed securing $302m in funding for the construction and development of the project in January this year, several months after it broke ground on the site.

The debt was secured through equity and loan schemes from local and international financial institutions, including the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), France’s Group Societe Generale and Oman’s Bank Muscat.

UK-headquartered legal consultancy firms Herbert Smith Freehills and Clifford Chance advised the team on the transaction. 

The Manah 1 solar power plant will cover over 7.8 square kilometres in Oman’s Al-Dakhiliyah governorate and is expected to begin commercial operation in the first quarter of 2025.

The developer team said the project entails deploying over 1 million bifacial PV modules mounted on a single-axis tracker system for the plant.

The project is expected to offset up to 700,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Wadi Noor Solar Power Company has been formed to deliver and operate the project for 20 years.

The company will work with Australia-headquartered Worley, which has recently been appointed as the owner engineer for the project.

China’s Shanghai Electric Company is the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. 

Oman Power & Water Procurement Company, now known as Nama Power & Water Procurement Company, tendered the Manah 1 IPP, along with another scheme, the similarly configured Manah 2 IPP, in 2022.

A team of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) and China-headquartered Jinko Power Technology was awarded the 500MW Manah 2 solar PV IPP contract.

Manah 1 and 2 were previously named Solar IPP 2022 and 2023.

The projects align with Oman’s clean energy goal to diversify the country’s energy mix, with the aim of 35%-39% renewable generation by 2040.