IPPs add 1500 MW to Oman’s power capacity

Al-Batinah Power Company and Al-Suwadi Power Company recently announced that their Sohar 2 and Barka 3 Independent Power Plants (IPP) have achieved full commercial operation early this month, well in time to meet the peak electricity demand during Oman’s hot summer months.

Sohar 2 and Barka 3 are coastal, gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants with a capacity of 744 MW each. Together, they add about 1,500 MW of power to Oman’s existing capacity of circa 4,500 MW. The projects are structured under the Build-Own-Operate scheme. Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) is the single off-taker of the power sold by both project companies under two separate 15-year power purchase contracts.

While Al-Batinah Power Company owns the Sohar 2 plant the Al-Suwadi Power Company owns Barka 3. Construction started in September 2010 with a consortium of Siemens AG (Germany) and GS Engineering and Construction (Korea) as EPC contractors. Siemens also supplied a majority of the power island equipment, including the gas and steam turbines and generators.

Sohar 2 and Barka 3 will be operated and maintained by Suez-Tractebel Operation and Maintenance Oman LLC (STOMO). Shoji Tokunaga, corporate officer and senior general manager of Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (YONDEN) said the achievement was a result of the dedicated support and cooperation of OPWP and other partners. “We look forward to the continued development of Oman by ensuring a stable power supply, utilizing our expertise developed in Japan over 60 years.”