Oman plans 1.2 GW of wind energy

Oman’s Nama Power & Water Procurement Company (PWP) has announced plans to acquire five wind power plants with a combined capacity of 1,171 MW.

The planned schemes and their capacities are:

  Dhofar 2: 132 MW
  Sada: 99MW
  Duqm: 270MW
  Power: 400MW
  Jaalan Bani Bu Ali: 270MW

These projects are expected to be implemented by 2027 to help the sultanate achieve its goal of renewable energy making up 30% of its total electricity production mix by 2030.

In the longer term, Oman aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The new projects significantly increase the current portfolio of wind projects in the sultanate.

Nama PWP, formerly known as Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP), recently appointed a team of consultants for its planned independent wind power producer (IPP) projects.

The state buyer’s transaction advisory team consists of KPMG Lower Gulf as financial advisor, UK and US-based Dentons as legal advisor and Australia’s Worley as technical advisor.
Previous plan

The latest announcement overturns an earlier plan for Oman to acquire three independent wind energy projects, as outlined in the company’s previously published Seven Year Statement for 2022-28.

That document, released early last year, indicated plans to begin the process of acquiring three wind power generation plants, a commercial-scale solar power plant and a waste-to-energy facility.

The first wind power plant, located at Jalaan Bani Bu Ali in Sharqiyah Governorate in Oman, had a planned capacity of 100 MW at the time of the publication of the Seven Year Declaration. It has now been increased to 270MW.

According to OPWP statement 2022-28, the plant is expected to come online in 2025 and will supply the Main Interconnected System, the sultanate’s largest electricity grid.

The planned second wind IPP will serve the Duqm power system and was planned to have a design capacity of 100 MW. The capacity of this wind farm has also been increased to 270MW.

A third wind IPP is planned for the Dhofar energy system. Its capacity has been set at 132MW.

Renewable energy, derived mainly from solar photovoltaic power plants, accounted for approximately 6% of Oman’s electricity production capacity in 2023.