Japan?s Mitsui & Co Ltd-led consortium has marked progress in building two natural gas-fired power projects, Sohar III and Ibri in Oman, expecting to develop a combined capacity of 3,219MW
According to a seven-year outlook report released by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the Ibri Independent Power Project (IPP) is scheduled to start operation in April 2018, delivering an early power of 940MW, with the full 1,509MW power generation from April 2019.
OPWP reported that the Sohar III is scheduled to deliver full capacity of 1,710MW from January 2019.
In 2016, OPWP awarded the build-own-operate (BOO) contract of Sohar III and IPP to the consortium including Japanese Mitsui, Saudi Arabia?s ACWA Power and Oman?s Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding Company (DIDIC).
As per the contract, Mitsui holds a stake of 50.1 per cent of the BOO contract, with ACWA holding 44.9 per cent and DIDIC of five per cent of the total share.
OPWP stressed that the consortium of companies has strict deadlines to complete the two projects as OPWP targets to generate power from these plants within two years.
The IPP and Sohar III power plants aim to meet the peak demand of electricity in the country, which has been forecasted to increase at an average annual rate of six per cent per year, from 5,920MW in 2016 to 8,960MW in 2023.
According to Times of Oman, Shandong Electric Power Construction Corporation III (Sepco III), the EPC contractor, hoisted two gas turbines at Ibri in June 2017, after the civil works has been completed at both project sites.
SEPCO III awarded contracts worth US$670mn to Italian power engineering company Ansaldo Energia to build four GT26 class gas turbines, four heat recovery steam generators, two steam turbines and six turbo generators at both IPP and Sohar III power plants, reported the source.
