A move forward for Oman’s Ibri III project: Oman’s Nama Power and Water Procurement Company (PWP) has prequalified nine international companies or consortiums for the development of the 500 MW Ibri III Solar IPP, according to a statement. The project has an investment value of OMR 155 mn (c. USD 402.7 mn), the statement disclosed.

Who did Nama select? Seven companies entered the tender individually and were selected by Nama including UAE’s Masdar, KSA’s Acwa Power, China’s Jinko Power, Singapore’s Sembcorp Utilities, Japan’s Sumitomo, and France’s TotalEnergies Renewables and Engie. Two consortiums were also selected including one made up of Al Riyadh National Trading and Korea Midland Power and another including EDF Renouvelables and Korean Western Power.

About the solar farm: Ibri III Solar will generate 1.5 TWh of renewable energy annually and reduce CO2 emission by 505k tons per annum at full capacity. Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) successfully completed tests to remotely operate the project in November. The IPP is also the first solar plant in the Sultanate to be connected to the transmission grid, and operations are expected to begin in 4Q 2026. The tender was initially announced in 2022.

Its predecessor was Oman’s first-grid connected solar project: OPWP inaugurated the nation’s first grid-connected solar power project Ibri II in January 2022. The OMR 155 mn (USD 402.6 mn) project was funded by a consortium of investors including Saudi’s Acwa Power (50%), Kuwait-based investment firm Gulf Investment Corporation (40%), and Kuwait-based Alternative Energy Projects Co. (10%).

Set up for exports: A 400 KV electrical interconnection extending from Ibri in northwest Oman to the UAE’s Silaa border with Saudi Arabia and linking to the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) grid is currently in the planning phase following completion of an evaluation study.

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