Omani oil provider switches on 100 MW solar park
The PV plant is located at Amin, in the southern desert region of the sultanate. The project, tendered by Petroleum Development Oman in early 2018, was built by a consortium led by the Japanese Marubeni conglomerate.
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has commissioned the 100 MW Amin Photovoltaic Power Plant it deployed in the town of Amin in the southern desert region of the sultanate.
The $94 million project is owned by the Amin Renewable Energy Company S.A.O.C special purpose vehicle whose shareholders are Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, the state-owned Oman Gas Company, Omani developer Bahwan Renewable Energy Company LLC and Qatari government-related entity and fossil fuel company Nebras Power QPSC.
The solar plant will sell power to PDO under a 23-year contract for an undisclosed price, the oil company said. PDO had stated the tariff agreed for the solar power generated was one of the lowest in the world when the facility was awarded, in October 2018.
The plant is 210km northwest of the town of Thumrait in southern Oman, in PDO’s oil and natural gas concession area.
The oil company is 60% owned by the government of Oman with Anglo-Dutch and French peers Shell Group and Total holding stakes of 34% and 4%, respectively. The remaining 2% of the business is owned by Portuguese oil company Partex.
Several large solar parks are being constructed in Oman under a tender program managed by the state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Co. Fellow state-owned entity the Rural Areas Electricity Company has tendered 11 solar-diesel-storage projects with a combined capacity of 146 MW as part of a government plan to add 4 GW of renewables generation capacity by 2030.