30 November 2015
Muscat: A tender for supervisory consultancy services was floated by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company on Sunday for managing construction of two major water desalination projects, which have a combined capacity of 531,000 cubic meters per day (116.8 million imperial gallons per day). These projects are coming up in two locations on Oman's Batinah coast -- Barka and Sohar.
The consultant will provide project management and technical consultancy services during the construction, commissioning and testing of Barka and Sohar independent water projects. The last date for submission for the consultancy tender is January 10, 2016.
The projects are being implemented by the winners on a build-own-operate basis under the terms of water purchase agreements with OPWP, the company said in a tender announcement.
Meanwhile, seven multinational developers from Singapore, Japan, France and Spain are competing for bagging the Sultanate's largest independent water desalination project. The consortiums that have submitted bids in August for building the venture are Abengoa Water, Itochu Corporation, JGC, GS Inima Environment SA, Veolia Middle East, Valoriza Agua SL and Hyflux Ltd, according to an earlier tender notification.
OPWP, the sole procurer of new power generation and water desalination capacity, earlier floated the tender, inviting bids from major developers for building the project. The water schemes in both project locations are slated for commercial operation by April 2018.
New projects are expected to substantially enhance the availability of potable water in the country's northern region, as the country has recently seen a shortage in water supply due to phenomenal growth in consumption.
The Barka IWP, with a planned desalination capacity of 281,000 cubic metres per day (61.8 MIGD), will be the larger of the two schemes. The Sohar water desalination project, meanwhile, will have an estimated capacity of 250,000 cubic metres per day (55 MIGD) of water. As water-only schemes, the two projects will not have any new power generation facilities co-located on the site, but electricity will be supplied from the grid.
The seven transnational companies leading the consortiums have joined hands with 13 local companies in submitting their bids.
For instance, Abengoa has tied up with National Power and Water Company and Muscat Overseas, while GS Inima has formed a consortium with GS Engineering & Construction, Acciona Aqua and Oman Investment Corporation. Likewise, Veolia has formed a consortium with Marubeni Corporation and Nippon Koei; Valoriza formed its ownconsortium with Oman Brunei Investment Company and Sogex Oman; and JGC with JGC Corporation and Tochu Corporation formed a consortium with Degremont, International Power and W J Towell. However, Hyflux, which is developing the Quriyyat desalination project, is bidding for the project on its own.
Further, GDF Suez, which was pre-qualified for the project, did not submit a bid for the project.
The demand for potable water in Oman's northern region is projected to grow by six per cent per annum in seven years, from 238 million cubic metres in 2013 to 349 million cubic metres in 2020. Previous seven-year forecasts showed the average annual growth was in the range of three to five per cent, according to a seven-year outlook for power and water demand released by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company last year.
A combination of population growth and industrial development, including tourism projects, is cited as a major reason for the growth in demand for potable water. Of late, the government has invited bids from developers to build temporary desalination plants to meet the demand until the major projects come on stream.
Muscat: A tender for supervisory consultancy services was floated by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company on Sunday for managing construction of two major water desalination projects, which have a combined capacity of 531,000 cubic meters per day (116.8 million imperial gallons per day). These projects are coming up in two locations on Oman's Batinah coast -- Barka and Sohar.
The consultant will provide project management and technical consultancy services during the construction, commissioning and testing of Barka and Sohar independent water projects. The last date for submission for the consultancy tender is January 10, 2016.
The projects are being implemented by the winners on a build-own-operate basis under the terms of water purchase agreements with OPWP, the company said in a tender announcement.
Meanwhile, seven multinational developers from Singapore, Japan, France and Spain are competing for bagging the Sultanate's largest independent water desalination project. The consortiums that have submitted bids in August for building the venture are Abengoa Water, Itochu Corporation, JGC, GS Inima Environment SA, Veolia Middle East, Valoriza Agua SL and Hyflux Ltd, according to an earlier tender notification.
OPWP, the sole procurer of new power generation and water desalination capacity, earlier floated the tender, inviting bids from major developers for building the project. The water schemes in both project locations are slated for commercial operation by April 2018.
New projects are expected to substantially enhance the availability of potable water in the country's northern region, as the country has recently seen a shortage in water supply due to phenomenal growth in consumption.
The Barka IWP, with a planned desalination capacity of 281,000 cubic metres per day (61.8 MIGD), will be the larger of the two schemes. The Sohar water desalination project, meanwhile, will have an estimated capacity of 250,000 cubic metres per day (55 MIGD) of water. As water-only schemes, the two projects will not have any new power generation facilities co-located on the site, but electricity will be supplied from the grid.
The seven transnational companies leading the consortiums have joined hands with 13 local companies in submitting their bids.
For instance, Abengoa has tied up with National Power and Water Company and Muscat Overseas, while GS Inima has formed a consortium with GS Engineering & Construction, Acciona Aqua and Oman Investment Corporation. Likewise, Veolia has formed a consortium with Marubeni Corporation and Nippon Koei; Valoriza formed its ownconsortium with Oman Brunei Investment Company and Sogex Oman; and JGC with JGC Corporation and Tochu Corporation formed a consortium with Degremont, International Power and W J Towell. However, Hyflux, which is developing the Quriyyat desalination project, is bidding for the project on its own.
Further, GDF Suez, which was pre-qualified for the project, did not submit a bid for the project.
The demand for potable water in Oman's northern region is projected to grow by six per cent per annum in seven years, from 238 million cubic metres in 2013 to 349 million cubic metres in 2020. Previous seven-year forecasts showed the average annual growth was in the range of three to five per cent, according to a seven-year outlook for power and water demand released by Oman Power and Water Procurement Company last year.
A combination of population growth and industrial development, including tourism projects, is cited as a major reason for the growth in demand for potable water. Of late, the government has invited bids from developers to build temporary desalination plants to meet the demand until the major projects come on stream.
© Times of Oman 2015
