Oman Power and Water Procurement Co (OPWP), the sole purchaser of power generation and related desalinated water capacity in Oman, plans to float a request for qualifications by the third quarter of this year for developers interested in developing a gas-fired independent water and power project.

According to Ahmed al Jahdhami, chief executive officer of OPWP, the project, which is Oman's biggest independent power project (IPP), is expected to have a total investment of over US$1.5billion.

Ahmed al Jahdhami stated:

This will require coordination with Oman Electricity Transmission Co and Oman Gas Co to find the best locations in order to minimise infrastructure requirements.We are talking about a 10 per cent annual growth in demand for power, which is against 2-3 per cent in developed countries.

The project, which  will significantly ramp up generation capacity within Oman's Main Interconnected System, will have a generation capacity of around 3,000MW-3,500MW. Part of the capacity will be ready in 2017 and full capacity will be achieved by 2018. The proposed project will also have a desalination component for producing 50 million gallons of water per day.

The desalination plant could be located in Suwaiq and the power plant could be split between Al Batinah and Ibri or another interior place.

The Sultanate's population, which grew to 3.85 million by mid-2013, up by 6.4 per cent over the same period of the previous year, is a major factor that drives the demand for electricity, while industrial consumption and tourism development projects also accelerate the growth in consumption of power in the northern region.