Meed | Oman appoints wind PPP advisory team

Oman appoints wind PPP advisory team

5 February 2024

Nama Power & Water Procurement Company (PWP), previously known as Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP), has appointed a team of consultants for its planned wind independent power producer (IPP) projects.

The state offtaker's transaction advisory team comprises KPMG Lower Gulf as financial adviser, UK/US-headquartered Dentons as legal adviser and Australia's Worley as technical adviser.

OPWP received separate bids for the three consultancy contracts between 2022 and 2023.

The company's Seven-Year Statement for 2022-28 indicated plans to start the procurement process for three wind power generation plants, a utility-scale solar power plant and a waste-to-energy facility.

The first wind IPP, which is located in Jalaan Bani Bu Ali in Oman's Sharqiyah governorate, has a planned capacity of 100MW. According to OPWP's 2022-28 statement, the plant is expected to come online in 2025 and will cater to the Main Interconnected System, the sultanate's largest electricity grid.

The second planned wind IPP will cater to the Duqm Power System and will have a design capacity of 100MW.

A third wind IPP is planned for the Dhofar Power System, although OPWP has yet to specify a timeline for this scheme, which will be located near Oman's first operational wind power plant in Harweel.

According to an industry source, the final capacities and the sequence for procuring the planned wind IPP schemes are still being discussed.

However, Nama PWP is expected to invite utility developers to express their interest in bidding for the wind IPP schemes before the end of 2024.

Renewable energy, mainly derived from solar photovoltaic power plants, accounted for an estimated 6% of Oman’s electricity production capacity as of 2023.

MEED’s January 2024 special report on Oman includes:

> COMMENT: Muscat needs to stimulate growth
> GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY: Muscat performs tricky budget balancing act
> BANKING: Oman banks look to projects for growth
> OIL & GAS: Oman diversifies hydrocarbons value chain
> POWER & WATER: Oman expands grid connectivity
> HYDROGEN: Oman seeks early hydrogen success
> CONSTRUCTION: Oman construction is back on track