MUSCAT: An Independent Water Project (IWP) at Sur, owned and operated by Sharqiyah Desalination Company SAOG (SDC), is set to become the first facility of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman and the wider Middle East region, to be powered by renewable electricity.
Publicly-traded SDC, backed by French-based global water and environmental services specialist Veolia, currently operates a modern 80,000 cubic metres/day capacity desalination project at Sur.
Effective this quarter (Q3), the desalination plant will be plugged into a new captive solar photovoltaic (PV) farm installed nearby in partnership with French energy major TotalEnergies.
Commenting on the milestone development, Denis Le-Maout, Chairman – Sharqiyah Desalination, said: “The company has signed an agreement with TotalEnergies to start the construction of a solar project to be installed at the plant, which will be the first of its kind to be installed in the Sultanate of Oman and one of the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) systems providing power for a desalination plant in the region. From the third quarter of 2023, the plant will produce annually up to 30,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green electricity, which is enough to cover more than 33 per cent of the plant’s daily consumption and will avoid some 280 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. It also contributes to Oman’s National Energy Strategy to convert 30 per cent of its electricity use to renewable sources by 2030,” he stated.
This switch to renewable electricity is part of a trend that is gaining traction across the wider economy. Over the past couple of years, growing numbers of companies – distributed across the agriculture, farming, educational, hospitality, retail, industrial, refining, petrochemical and other sectors – are investing in solar PV capacity to offset part of their fossil-fuel based energy dependence.
The pivot to renewable power is expected to ramp up in line with Oman’s target to achieve at least 30 per cent of its energy requirement from solar and wind generation by 2030.
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