Oman's solar and coal-fired power generation plans make new progress

According to Oman’s official English newspaper, the Observer, an executive of the Oman Hydropower Purchasing Company (OPWP) told the newspaper’s reporter that the bidding process for Oman’s first large-scale solar independent power plant project is expected to start before the end of the year. Oman Hydropower Purchasing Company is one of the only owner companies in the field of power generation and desalination of Anew Energy.

Yaqoob bin Saifal Kiyumi, CEO of Oman Hydro Purchasing Company said,

The Oman Hydropower Procurement Company is formulating qualification review procedures for large-scale solar projects, and the qualification requirements (RfQ) will be announced before the end of the year. The project will be the first project in the field of renewable energy in Algeria and one of the similar large-scale projects in the region. The installed capacity will reach several hundred megawatts. The project location is likely to be one of Ibri, Manah and Adam.

Al Kiyumi said that Oman's feasibility study on coal power generation has also made significant progress. If it is finally approved by the government, it will help diversify the energy structure and gradually get rid of the status quo that power generation and desalination projects rely on natural gas as a single fuel.

AlKiyumi pointed out that the Oman Hydropower Procurement Company plans to launch a coal-fired power plant project with an installed capacity of approximately 1,800 MW and a generating capacity of 600 MW, which will be carried out in stages according to the needs of different regions to avoid concentration of production capacity in one region. Duqum is one of the alternative locations for the coal-fired power station project. Because it is located outside the two main power grids, it is quite challenging to export surplus power from Duqum. The final choice will be based on the growth of electricity demand in the region.