Share of renewables to reach 20 per cent of power capacity by 2030

According to a high-level official of Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) — the sole buyer of all electricity and water output — the robust uptick in renewables-based capacity will be fuelled by initiatives being implemented by, among others, the Authority for Electricity Regulation Oman (AER) and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
Naif al Abri (pictured), Project Development Director — OPWP, said the ambitious Rooftop Solar PV scheme (Sahim) being spearheaded by the regulator, as well as other solar projects initiated by PDO in support of its oilfield activities, would supplement OPWP’s own strategy for the procurement of utility-scale solar and wind projects. By 2024, we will be achieving a contribution of around 12 per cent from OPWP-driven renewable projects. Another 2-5 per cent contribution will come from other development channels like Sahim and PDO ventures.
Thus, our hope is to reach a 20 per cent share from renewables by 2030,” the official told delegates attending the Oman Sustainability Energy and Technology Summit here on Tuesday.
Giving an overview of OPWP’s renewable energy development plan, Al Abri said the state-owned procurer — part of The Electricity Holding Company (Nama Group) — has around 2,650 MW of solar, wind, and waste-to-energy based capacity planned for procurement by 2024. This is broadly in line with the Omani government’s energy diversification policy affixing a minimum 10 per cent contribution from renewables to the nation’s total generation capacity by around this timeframe.
Of this target, around 2,000 MW of capacity will be procured in the form of solar-based Independent Power Projects starting with Ibri Solar II, which comprises a 500MW solar PV based utility-scale project currently under procurement.
Bids for Ibri Solar II are being evaluated, with construction likely to be initiated in the first half of 2019.
At the same time, new solar projects are planned for procurement sequentially every year to achieve an aggregate solar capacity of 2,000 MW by 2024, he noted.
OPWP’s renewables development plan also envisions around 600 MW of wind-based capacity, which will come up primarily in Dhofar Governorate and Duqm in Wusta Governorate, said Al Abri.
It includes around 200 MW of wind farm capacity planned in Duqm, where a world-scale special economic zone is under development. Procurement and delivery of this capacity is planned in alignment with the North-South Interconnect project of Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) — a 400 KV transmission line that will integrate the Main Interconnected System (MIS) of north Oman with the Dhofar Power System in the South. Phase 1 of the project will add Duqm to the interconnection project.
Further, to help support investment in wind-based capacity is preparing to float a tender for assessing wind resources in the south of the country, according to the official.
“In order to have bankable projects, it is very important to have on-ground wind data measurements. This is something we are currently pursuing; we have identified the sites and in the coming weeks, we are tendering to have a wind resources assessment and the collection of wind data for at least a year,” he added.