Al-Batinah Power Company and Al-Suwadi Power Company have announced that the Sohar 2 and Barka 3 Independent Power Plants (IPP) achieved full commercial operation respectively on early this month, well in time to meet the peak electricity demand during Oman’s hot summer months.
Al-Batinah Power Company is the owner of the Sohar 2 plant and Al-Suwadi Power Company is the owner of the Barka 3 plant.
Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) is the single off-taker of the power sold by both project companies under two, separate 15-year power purchase contracts.
Both the Al-Batinah and Al-Suwadi Power Companies are owned by a consortium comprised of GDF SUEZ (46 percent), Multitech, part of Suhail Bahwan Group (22 percent), Sojitz Corporation and Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (11 percent each) and the Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI) (10 percent) of Oman.
Sohar 2 and Barka 3 are coastal, gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants with a capacity of 744 MW each.
Together they add almost 1,500 MW of power to Oman’s current existing capacity of circa 4,500 MW. The projects are structured as a Build-Own-Operate scheme.
Construction started in September 2010 with a consortium of Siemens AG (Germany) and GS Engineering and Construction (Korea) as EPC contractors.
Siemens also supplied the majority of the power island equipment, including the gas and steam turbines and generators.
Sohar 2 and Barka 3 will be operated and maintained by Suez-Tractebel Operation and Maintenance Oman LLC (STOMO).
Shankar Krishnamoorthy, CEO and President of GDF SUEZ Energy Middle East, Turkey and Africa said: “My sincere thanks and congratulations to the teams of the Al-Batinah and Al-Suwadi Power Companies who, by achieving the commercial operation of their plants on schedule, have fulfilled their commitment to Oman.”
A spokesperson of the management of Suhail Bahwan Group said: “Oman’s power requirement is rising rapidly and the timely achievement of commercial operation will go a long way in meeting this growing demand. We are proud to be associated with GDF SUEZ and the other partners in this project.”
Takeshi Yoshimura, executive officer of Sojitz Corporation, said: “We are delighted with the successful commercial operation of the Sohar 2 and Barka 3 plants.”
Yoshimura said: “We expect both plants to play a key role in supplying power to Oman and its people. Sojitz enjoys a long history and track record of partnership with Oman and we hope to continue this for many years to come.”
He added: “We would like to extend our sincere gratitude and our best wishes to all the people involved in the completion of these important projects.”
Shoji Tokunaga, corporate officer and senior general manager of Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc. (YONDEN) said: “We are extremely pleased that Al Batinah Power Company and Al Suwadi Power Company have achieved commercial operation.
This achievement was a result of the dedicated support and cooperation of OPWP and all our partners. We look forward to our ongoing contribution, in alliance with our partners, to the continued development of Oman by ensuring a stable power supply, utilizing our expertise developed in Japan over 60 years.”
