A 100MW Solar PV Farm is to be built in Suhar Industrial City, following the signing of an agreement between the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), Mubadrah and Solar Wadi. The project will take shape in Suhar Industrial City and is expected to be operational by next year.
According to a statement from Madayn, the initiative is part of the overall strategy of Madayn in providing a significant portion of the energy needs of its tenants from a sustainable renewable energy source, in line with Oman Vision 2040’s sustainability goals.
The agreement was signed by Eng Musallam bin Mohammed Al Shehri, head of Operations Sector at Madayn, Mustafa Al Lawati, CEO of Mubadrah and Yazan Faouri, CEO of Solar Wadi. The project is said to be part of the larger overall Madayn Renewable Energy Project initiative, which is being undertaken to transform the way the electricity needs of all industrial cities and free zones under Madayn umbrella are being met.
“This agreement comes along the lines of the efforts undertaken by Madayn in moving towards more sustainable energy sources and helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the industrial sector in Oman, as set out in Vision 2040, the gateway to Oman becoming a developed nation under the guidance of His Majesty Haitham bin Tarik,” said Mustafa Al Lawati, CEO of Mubadrah.
He added the aim is to provide all Madayn tenants with saving on their electricity costs, while attracting investors to invest into the development of the Solar Park to increase the competitiveness of all companies within the Madayn industrial cities and free zones. He stated that this will create a positive impact on their business operations and Oman’s economy.
Yazan Faouri, CEO of Solar Wadi stated, “The aim of this initiative and collaboration is to enable us to work together in our combined efforts to deliver a sustainable, ecological, more economical, and socially conscious power solution for all tenants at Suhar Industrial City from a Renewable Solar Energy source. In doing so, we are contributing to the ambitions and goals of the Omani Government, under the leadership of His Majesty Haitham bin Tarik, in transforming Oman’s economy into a developed, diversified and sustainable national economy as a set out by Oman Vision 2040.”
Faouri added that “This project represents a strategic investment for Solar Wadi, as one of the first independent Omani power companies that invests in, builds and operates renewable energy power plants. It is only the first in a number of investments planned for the Omani market, which is targeted as a total investment of $780m in developing a combined capacity of circa 1GW of solar PV energy plants across the Sultanate. With investments being made mainly in the Madayn Renewable Energy Project initiative over all industrial cities and free zones under the Madayn umbrella, along with a significant number of other solar plants being developed for the wider private sector C&I companies and governmental entities across a wide range of business sectors in the Omani economy.”
The statement noted that Madayn and its partners plan to roll out the Madayn Renewable Energy Project initiative across all industrial cities and free zones in the coming years. Madayn said it will utilise a combination of holistic solutions, which involves a larger centralised solar plant that will cater for the collective needs of all tenants within the industrial city that are connected to the regular distribution networks and direct private-wire solutions for high consumption tenants within the industrial city that have individual electricity feeds.