MUSCAT, SEPT 6 - Oman’s Public Authority for Electricity and Water (Diam) has announced that it has commenced “booking” areas around sites deemed ideal for the development of wind power projects.
The move follows the successful completion of Phase 1 of the Wind Resources Atlas study, an initiative launched by Diam several years ago to help spur investment in wind-based renewable energy schemes in Oman.
“Following the first phase of the Wind Resources Atlas study, PAEW has progressed the project further by starting booking the areas of the recommended sites in order to secure the locations while the work is in progress for Phase 2,” said Diam.
“This second phase of the project atlas will be a wind resources assessment programme that includes the installation of wind masts at the recommended sites identified in the first phase. This will be an advanced step to collect bankable data and confirm the feasibility of future wind farm projects in cooperation with the Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP),” the Authority added in its recently published 2016 Annual Report.
Wind masts are key to the effort to gather bankable wind data at a given location, which is a prerequisite for the commercial exploitation of wind-based resources.
Rising to heights of around 80 metres, the wind masts generate key data on wind availability, speed, direction and related indicators, which along with other characteristics will help in the modelling of wind farms best suited to those specific locations.
The launch of Phase 2 of the Oman Wind Atlas Project comes as the Sultanate prepares to launch work on the region’s first large-scale wind farm project at Harweel in Dhofar Governorate.
The UAE based renewable energy firm Masdar is developing the 50 MW scheme in partnership with Oman’s Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO). A total of 13 wind turbines will be installed as part of the landmark wind farm project.
Conrad Prabhu
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