Oman North-South interconnect study nears completion

Landmark project: Based on technical/economic study, OPWP will make recommendations on optimum route for interconnect project, implementation timeframe and projections of economic savings -

Conrad Prabhu -

MUSCAT, JUNE 11 -

A ground-breaking study that aims to link the power grid of north Oman with that of Dhofar Governorate in the south of the Sultanate is due to be completed shortly, according to Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the nation’s sole off-taker of electricity and water output.

The initiative, dubbed the North-South Interconnect Project, will help link the Main Interconnected System (MIS), covering much of the northern half of the Sultanate, with the Dhofar Power System (DPS), which supplies electricity to Salalah and other areas of Dhofar Governorate.

Significantly, the project also envisions an interconnect with Duqm, where electricity demand is projected to exponentially grow in conjunction with the development of a major Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

“A technical/economic study is scheduled to be complete in Q2 2017, with a recommendation to government for the timing and best route for the project, and projections of economic savings that would be achieved,” said OPWP in an update on the North-South Interconnect Project.

“The expected benefits include fuel savings due to improved dispatch coordination among the power systems, access to areas with renewable energy potential, sharing of spinning reserves (reducing operating costs), and improved grid security,” the state-owned utility added in its latest Outlook Statement for the 2017-2023 timeframe.

The interconnect project will help plug a major gap that currently separates the Main Interconnected System (MIS) and the Dhofar Power System, as well as an internal grid owned and operated by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in the oilfield areas.

While the PDO power system is interconnected with the MIS in the north via a 132 kV line at Nizwa, it is interconnected in the south with the Dhofar Power System via a 132 kV link between Thamrait and Harweel. OPWP’s North-South Interconnect Project centres on a proposal for a 400 kV interconnection from Nizwa to Duqm via Haima — an initiative that will effectively link the MIS with the Dhofar Power System.

To this end, OPWP is collaborating with PDO and Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), which owns and operates the MIS, in charting the way forward for the implementation of the North-South Interconnect Project.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) inked by the three parties last year seeks: “to evaluate costs and benefits of the interconnection, and to define the operating procedures needed to assure that benefits are realised”.

A key beneficiary of the interconnect project will be Duqm, which has been identified as a new growth pole to drive the Sultanate’s long-term economic development. Interconnection will provide Duqm with access to power generation resources in the MIS system — a move designed to also ensure energy security and grid stability that are indispensable to Duqm’s positioning as a major industrial and economic hub, according to OPWP.