05 July 2011
MUSCAT -- Majis Industrial Services (MISC), the state-owned water utility services provider, plans to build a second Seawater Intake Pumping System (SWIPS) to meet the burgeoning cooling water requirements of industrial tenants at the Port of Sohar.
The project, which also includes substantial allocations in associated infrastructure, is set to further enhance Sohar Port's appeal to industrial investment.
According to officials, the new seawater intake pumping system will roughly double the cooling water supply capacity of MISC at the industrial port. An existing seawater intake system (SWIP 1) which came into operation in 2006, currently meets the cooling water needs of a number of major industrial and petrochemical projects presently in operation at the port. However, capacity utilisation of SWIPS 1 has reached 100 per cent, necessitating a new system to be built to meet projected growth in cooling water demand from the first quarter of 2014.
SWIPS 2, as the new intake pumping system is called, will have a design capacity of around 300,000 cubic metres per hour (m3/hr) of cooling water. The new system will be constructed adjacent to the existing SWIPS 1, along with auxiliaries such as screening arrangements, electro-chlorination facilities, and so on. When integrated, both SWIPS 1 and SWIPS 2 will boast a combined pumping capacity of 634,000 m3/hr -- rivalling in capacity some of the largest cooling water intake and pumping systems currently in operation in the Middle East.
Also as part of the project, the selected contractor will be required to construct a second outfall system for the discharge of return cooling water into the sea. The project also calls for the provision of wadi channel protection, shoreline protection, flood protection, and some dredging works in front of the new pumping station.
As a first step in the implementation of the project, MISC recently floated a Request for Qualifications (RfQ) inviting statements of interest and qualifications from contractors with experience in the construction of seawater intake and related infrastructure.
But tough prequalification criteria are likely to put the competitive tender beyond the reach of all but only a couple of Omani contractors. MISC insists that contractors must have successfully delivered at least one substantial pumping station/screening project with a total flow capacity of 150,000 m3/hr, in order to prequalify for the competitive tender.
To date, Oman boasts only one pumping station -- the SWIPS 1 -- that meets and exceeds this stipulated flow capacity.
All other existing pumping stations, whether serving the independent water and power projects at Barka, Sohar and Al Ghubra, or the methanol plant in Salalah, have capacities ranging from 10,000 -- 20,000 m3/hr, it is pointed out.
Interested contractors have until July 9 to submit their Statement of Qualifications, based upon which a list of prequalified bidders will be announced by August 22, 2011. A contract award is slated to be announced in the first quarter of 2012.
The contract entails the development, design, engineering, construction and commissioning of SWIPS 2 and the associated return system. Project costs will be met by MISC, which in turn will sell the cooling water to industrial tenants within the port.
As part of its mandate to provide a variety of water-related services to customers within the Sohar Industrial Port Area (SIPA), MISC supplies chlorinated seawater for non-contact process cooling and desalination application to various users.
Six major customers -- Sohar International Urea and Chemical Industries, Sohar Power Company SAOG, Oman Oil Refineries & Petrochemical Industries Co LLC, Sohar Aluminium, Oman Methanol and Jindal Shadeed -- already draw their requirements of chlorinated seawater under offtake arrangements with MISC. Al Batinah Power, which is developing a new power plant within the port area, will extract cooling water from 2012.
Late last year, the wholly government owned joint stock utility entered into a Strategic Alliance Partnership Agreement with Azaliya Water Services LLC (AWS), a subsidiary of global water utility Veolia and Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi.
Under the 6-year agreement, AWS will provide Operation and Maintenance Services to MISC, besides specific deliverables to support overall improvement in water utility management.
MUSCAT -- Majis Industrial Services (MISC), the state-owned water utility services provider, plans to build a second Seawater Intake Pumping System (SWIPS) to meet the burgeoning cooling water requirements of industrial tenants at the Port of Sohar.
The project, which also includes substantial allocations in associated infrastructure, is set to further enhance Sohar Port's appeal to industrial investment.
According to officials, the new seawater intake pumping system will roughly double the cooling water supply capacity of MISC at the industrial port. An existing seawater intake system (SWIP 1) which came into operation in 2006, currently meets the cooling water needs of a number of major industrial and petrochemical projects presently in operation at the port. However, capacity utilisation of SWIPS 1 has reached 100 per cent, necessitating a new system to be built to meet projected growth in cooling water demand from the first quarter of 2014.
SWIPS 2, as the new intake pumping system is called, will have a design capacity of around 300,000 cubic metres per hour (m3/hr) of cooling water. The new system will be constructed adjacent to the existing SWIPS 1, along with auxiliaries such as screening arrangements, electro-chlorination facilities, and so on. When integrated, both SWIPS 1 and SWIPS 2 will boast a combined pumping capacity of 634,000 m3/hr -- rivalling in capacity some of the largest cooling water intake and pumping systems currently in operation in the Middle East.
Also as part of the project, the selected contractor will be required to construct a second outfall system for the discharge of return cooling water into the sea. The project also calls for the provision of wadi channel protection, shoreline protection, flood protection, and some dredging works in front of the new pumping station.
As a first step in the implementation of the project, MISC recently floated a Request for Qualifications (RfQ) inviting statements of interest and qualifications from contractors with experience in the construction of seawater intake and related infrastructure.
But tough prequalification criteria are likely to put the competitive tender beyond the reach of all but only a couple of Omani contractors. MISC insists that contractors must have successfully delivered at least one substantial pumping station/screening project with a total flow capacity of 150,000 m3/hr, in order to prequalify for the competitive tender.
To date, Oman boasts only one pumping station -- the SWIPS 1 -- that meets and exceeds this stipulated flow capacity.
All other existing pumping stations, whether serving the independent water and power projects at Barka, Sohar and Al Ghubra, or the methanol plant in Salalah, have capacities ranging from 10,000 -- 20,000 m3/hr, it is pointed out.
Interested contractors have until July 9 to submit their Statement of Qualifications, based upon which a list of prequalified bidders will be announced by August 22, 2011. A contract award is slated to be announced in the first quarter of 2012.
The contract entails the development, design, engineering, construction and commissioning of SWIPS 2 and the associated return system. Project costs will be met by MISC, which in turn will sell the cooling water to industrial tenants within the port.
As part of its mandate to provide a variety of water-related services to customers within the Sohar Industrial Port Area (SIPA), MISC supplies chlorinated seawater for non-contact process cooling and desalination application to various users.
Six major customers -- Sohar International Urea and Chemical Industries, Sohar Power Company SAOG, Oman Oil Refineries & Petrochemical Industries Co LLC, Sohar Aluminium, Oman Methanol and Jindal Shadeed -- already draw their requirements of chlorinated seawater under offtake arrangements with MISC. Al Batinah Power, which is developing a new power plant within the port area, will extract cooling water from 2012.
Late last year, the wholly government owned joint stock utility entered into a Strategic Alliance Partnership Agreement with Azaliya Water Services LLC (AWS), a subsidiary of global water utility Veolia and Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi.
Under the 6-year agreement, AWS will provide Operation and Maintenance Services to MISC, besides specific deliverables to support overall improvement in water utility management.
© Oman Daily Observer 2011
