The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has invited bids from leading global companies to provide technical consultancy services for the development of the Ibri III solar independent power project (IPP).

In its tender notification, OPWP said that it aims to initiate the process of procuring additional solar projects connected to MIS with a capacity of 500MW. It said that it expects to launch the Ibri III project’s commercial operations by Q4 2026.

It added that the last date for submitting bids has been set at 7 December 2022. Winning bidders will be required to provide advice on the competitive tendering of the project, in addition to technical consultancy for the project’s development, it explained.

In March 2020, Oman’s largest PV solar plant achieved financial close and, in April 2020, an Acwa Power-led consortium announced it had reached a deal on a 500MW IPP in Oman.

In January of this year, a consortium led by ACWA Power inaugurated the 500MW Ibri II solar independent power project in Oman, in partnership with OPWP. Located in the Ad-Dhahirah Governorate, Ibri II was built with a US $417mn investment and developed on a build-own-operate basis.

The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) is responsible for ensuring that there is sufficient electricity and water production capacity available at the lowest cost to meet the growing demands in the Sultanate of Oman.

It is a member of Nama Group and it is the single buyer of power and water for all IPP/IWPP projects within the Sultanate of Oman.

In July 2020, OPWP issued RFPs for two 500MW IPP solar projects.