Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) will be carrying out 65 projects from this year to 2016 at a cost of RO237mn, as the company upgrades and builds new facilities to cope with the sultanate's growth.
At a workshop organised by the company to brief contractors and suppliers on its upcoming projects, OETC announced that it has ten projects at the planning stage, seven under design, 13 at the tendering stage, 19 under construction, six commissioned and ten 'energised' projects now have power flowing to them.
Of these projects, 23 are scheduled to be completed by 2013, with 19 to be completed in 2014, nine in 2015 and the remaining five to be finished in 2016.
The estimated expenditure for the projects between 2013 and 2015 is RO237mn, RO137mn of which is proposed to be spent in 2013, RO77mn in 2014 and RO23mn in 2015.
Ali al Hadabi, the general manager of OETC, explained that the expansion programme is line with its main aim of meeting the extra energy demands as the country grows.
He said, "In support of this strategic objective, we will be continuing with a programme of significant enhancement and expansion of the transmission network."
All of the projects are part of the Main Interconnected System (MIS) of northern Oman, comprising of the areas served by Muscat Electricity Distribution Company, Majan Electricity Company and Mazoon Electricity Company, which cover the Muscat, Sharqiyah, Dakhiliyah and Batinah regions.
Mohammed al Mahrouqi, the chairman of the PAEW, also told Muscat Daily the new projects "will of course improve the resilience of the networks in Oman, and also help in meeting the growing demand in the electricity sector."
The 'energised' projects include new grid stations in Misfah, Nakhal and Wadi Sa'a, extra transformers in Wadi Kabir, MQ, Barka, Ibri and Mawaleh as well as facilities at Barka 3 and Sohar 2 power stations.
The 19 projects under construction by OETC include the building and upgrading of services to the upcoming Sur IPP, which consist of 220kv and 400kv lines to cater to the expected 2,000MW to be produced by the power station from 2014.
The 13 projects currently under tender also includes the upgrading of the Liwa grid station to supply the projects at the Sohar Free Zone, a 3,500 hectare plot currently under phased development next to the Port of Sohar.
© Muscat Daily 2012
