Petroleum Development Oman opens tender for 100MW solar plant
Petroleum Development Oman opens tender for 100MW solar plant
O&G exploration and development firm Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has invited companies to participate in a competitive tender for a 100MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project in southern Oman. This is the second solar PV project to come out of the Sultanate in recent months, as part of its push towards renewable and sustainable energy resource development.
According to the Oman Observer, the power generation project will be the first renewable energy venture for PDO, which is a majority-government-owned entity. The project will be developed as an independent power project (IPP) and electricity produced by the plant, once it is completed, will be managed by PDO exclusively, under a 23-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the developer.
The IPP model has been the model of procurement of almost all the 6,000MW of gas-based power generation capacity in the Sultanate.
A PDO statement said: ‘It is envisaged that the project will be privately financed through a combination of sponsor and third-party equity and non/limited recourse debt under a similar structure to previous IPPs. It is intended that PDO will sign a direct agreement with the project’s lenders setting out financial commitments.”
The company that wins the competitive tender will be given a long-term concession to design, construct, finance, operate and maintain the solar plant for the duration of the PPA term. A request for proposal (RFP) is likely to be issued before the end of January, while the award for the concession will likely take place in June of this year.
