Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has appointed a consortium of Mitsui, Acwa Power, and Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding (DIDIC) to develop the 3,219 MW Ibri and Sohar-3 power generation projects, the largest single tendered independent power project (IPP) in Oman.

The project includes two natural gas-fired combined cycle power plants of 1,509 MW and 1,710 MW each, located at Ibri and Sohar in northern Oman. Mitsui is the lead investor and the managing member of the project, owning 50.1 per cent of the project, with Acwa Power having a further 44.9 per cent of the shares and DIDIC, five per cent.

Both plants will be owned and operated under a 15-year power purchase agreement with OPWP at a cost of over RO885 million ($2.3 billion) and will be connected to the main interconnected system (MIS) in Oman.

Once commercially operational in early 2019, the plants will supply approximately 30 per cent of electricity demand in Oman.

OPWP is presently working on six water and electricity projects, including four desalination projects, which will be operational between 2019 and 2020, according to the Oman Observer.

One of the major projects under way is the Salalah Independent Water Plant with a capacity of 100,000 cu m per day. The plant, located adjacent to the existing Salalah IWPP, is likely to start commercial operation in January 2019, it stated.

Oman also plans to build two independent water projects in Duqm and Khasab, the groundwork for which has already been started. The proposed Duqm desalination project will have the capacity to produce 60,000 cu m of water per day and a request for a proposal will be issued this year, it added.