Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Renewable and alternative energy resources for a sustainable future

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After languishing on the backburner for a number of years — primarily for want of the requisite green-light from policymakers in government — renewables and non-gas fuel alternatives are set to make new inroads into Oman’s energy sector. Several concrete steps initiated by various statutory bodies attest to this promising scenario.


The most notable is ‘Sahim’, a renewable energy initiative launched by the Authority for Electricity Regulation Oman (AER), the sector’s regular. Unveiled in May this year, Sahim aims to promote the introduction of solar panels on building rooftops across the Sultanate to help offset the nation’s growing dependence on electricity generated by natural gas fuelled power plants. Customers can export surplus output back into the grid and thereby offset their installation costs and potential earn a return on their investments as well.


Hailing Sahim as an initiative of “tremendous national significance”, the Authority stated: “It will help us reduce our dependence on traditional sources of energy like diesel and gas, allowing us to direct these valuable resources to other projects that will benefit the long-term sustainability of the Sultanate. The use of renewable energy will also reduce our carbon footprint, protect the quality of our air and have other positive benefits.” Sahim will be rolled out in phases over the next couple of years underpinned on a robust regulatory framework that is being put in place by the Authority.


Complementing this initiative are plans for wind and commercial-scale solar capacity as well. A Request for Proposals (RfP) is expected to go out in the fourth quarter of this year for the implementation of Oman’s first large-scale solar Independent Power Project. The proposed 200MW capacity project is anticipated to be operational in 2020, according to Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the sole procurer of new electricity generation and related water desalination capacity.


Wind power


In the south of Oman, the Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO), a subsidiary of Nama Group, is preparing to shortly sign agreements linked to the development of the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm at Harweel in Dhofar Governorate. The 50MW-capacity wind farm is being developed as a partnership between RAECO and Masdar, a UAE-based renewable energy development agency. The venture will meet the electricity needs of around 16,000 homes in the Thamrait area.


Of late, OPWP — which is mandated to procure new capacity based on the utilization of economic and sustainable fuel resources — has also commenced a groundbreaking study into the potential use of coal as a resource. Alternative fuel resources have become imperative in light of the increasingly constrained supply of natural gas — currently the dominant fuel resource for power generation and water desalination — in the face of competing demands from other economic sectors.


Recently, the state-owned procurer appointed Finland-based international consulting and engineering services firm Pöyry to study the feasibility of establishing a first-ever coal-based Independent Power Project (IPP) in the Sultanate. Provisional plans drawn up by OPWP envisage a coal-based plant of a capacity ranging from 1,500 to 2,500MW. The optimum size will be determined based on the recommendations of the techno-economic study, if indeed the introduction of coal-based power generation gets the all-important green-light from the government.


For the foreseeable future, however, natural gas will remain the primary fuel source for power generation and related water desalination in the Sultanate, although a National Energy Strategy envisions a more diversified energy mix in the coming decade and beyond. Driving the quest for competitive, economical and sustainable energy alternatives is the consistently strong power demand growth trend, say authorities.


In the Main Interconnected System (MIS), which covers much of the northern half of the Sultanate, peak demand is expected to grow at about 6 per cent per year, from 5,920MW in 2016 to 8,960 MW in 2023. This growth rate, lower than previous forecasts, has been somewhat blunted in the wake of the introduction of cost reflective tariffs to large consumers earlier this year. In the Dhofar Power System, covering much of Dhofar Governorate, peak demand is expected to grow at 6 per cent per year, from 497MW in 2016 to 765MW in 2023.


New procurements


To meet this projections, OPWP has unveiled plans for the procurement of new Independent Power Projects (IPPs) providing around 2,400MW of gas based capacity, and a raft of new Independent Water Projects (IWPs) offering a total of over 800,000 cubic metres/day of new desalination capacity. It includes plans for at least 1,600MW of contract extensions and new capacity for operation in 2022. Beyond 2017, future procurement initiatives may include additional solar or wind IPPs, a gas-fired IPP for service in 2024, and a coal-fired IPP for operation somewhat later than 2024, according to OPWP.


On the water side, demand growth is projected to be significant, in response to which OPWP has formulated a substantive procurement plan. Around half a dozen new Independent Water Projects (IWPs) are planned in various parts of the Sultanate over the 2017-2023 timeframe. Notable is a new desalination plant planned in Al Ashkarah in Sharqiyah South Governorate, with a capacity of 80,000 m3/day (equivalent to 17.6 million imperial gallons per day MIGD). Bids for the project were already received in Q4 2016 with an award likely to be announced shortly, according to OPWP.


Seeking to satisfy growing demand in the capital region, the procurer plans to initiate the procurement in Q4 2017 of a new IWP of around 300,000 m3/day (66 MIGD) capacity as part of the Ghubrah water desalination cluster. Dubbed Ghubrah III IWP, the plant is slated for commercial launch in 2022.


Also envisaged is a first-ever IWP in North Batinah Governorate of a capacity of 200,000 m3/day (44 MIGD). An RfP for the project will be released in Q4 2017, with commercial operation set for 2022. Likewise, in Dhofar Governorate, OPWP foresees the potential for a new 100,000 m3/day (22 MIGD) capacity IWP to come on stream in 2022. Initial procurement efforts for this project are likely to begin this year.


The new Dhofar Water 2022 project, as it currently called, comes on top of the Salalah III IWP, an award for which is expected shortly. Salalah III IWP will offer 100,000 m3/day (22 MIGD) of capacity and is expected to come into operation in January 2020.


— Conrad Prabhu


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