Muscat – Close to 83,000 Omani families registered in the National Subsidy System benefit from the subsidy on electricity, according to Sheikh Dr Mansoor Talib Ali al Hinai, chairman of Public Services Regulation Authority.

In an Interview with Oman TV, Hinai explained that the objective of restructuring electricity tariffs was to develop services for subscribers and enable competition in the electricity supply sector.

“Electricity supply increased from 10,000kW in 2005 to 30,000kW in 2021. The number of subscribers also increased from 600,000 to 1.2mn. The agricultural sector is one of the most important economic sectors in the sultanate and we attached great importance to reviewing its tariffs,” Hinai said.

According to Hinai, the merger of electricity companies is expected to contribute to the development of services, raise efficiency of the system and reduce the cost of electricity in the medium term.

He informed that the value of investments in the sector in the past 15 years amounted to RO3bn. “Smart meters help in planning energy demand and motivating subscribers to rationalise electricity consumption, especially during summer,” he said.

Additionally, Oman formally launched an electricity spot market, the first in the Middle East, to increase the efficiency of power procurement, last week. The spot market will enable licensed generators to offer their surplus capacity at the most competitive rate for the first time.

The spot market will enable Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) to purchase the required electricity on a daily basis through the offers received from generation companies. The received offers will determine the daily electricity purchase prices for every half an hour based on the energy offered for trading in the market.

The sultanate’s electricity spot market will operate alongside the existing system of long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) between OPWP and generation companies.

Hinai expressed hope of the development of other projects in the field of diversifying energy generation, including benefiting from the Wadi Dayqah Dam and adding more renewable energy projects, like the wind energy project in Dhofar and the Ibri II Solar Power in Dakhliyah.

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