Oman’s power, water needs expected to rise sharply

Oman Monday 23/May/2016 22:55 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman’s power, water needs expected to rise sharply

Muscat: Demand for power in Oman is expected to grow by almost 10 per cent per year until 2019, while the Sultanate’s annual growth rate for desalinated water will be 13 per cent by 2021, officials of government-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) say.
“We are forecasting that this year we will still continue to grow (the power demand) at 8 per cent. We are a little bit cautious... we have lowered the forecast, given that we have not seen changes in the subsidy policy yet,” Ahmed Saleh Al Jahdami, CEO, Oman Power, told a gathering on Monday.
“We have also recently signed on to the new capacity Sohar and Ibri power projects that will generate 3,200 MW of electricity, in aggregate,” he said.
Al Jahdami was speaking at the second Oman Energy, Water Exhibition and Conference, and the first Oman Waste and Environmental Services Exhibition and Conference (OWES), at the Oman International Exhibition Center.
The three-day exhibition and conference was inaugurated by the Minister of Environment and Climate Affairs, Mohammed bin Salim bin Said Al Toobi, along with Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Mahrouqi, Chairman, Public Authority for Electricity and Water.
Al Jahdami said that huge growth is also being witnessed in the water sector. He noted that all water desalination is performed by the private sector. However, there are two government owned-companies “which are going to be phased out by 2018, hopefully.”
“In water, we have seen increasing demand, and this will continue,” he said, adding that more projects will be commissioned in the coming years to desalinate some 300,000 cubic meters of water per day by 2021. Also, he said, there are immense challenges as Oman Power has been told that it consumes some 25 per cent of the national gas requirement in Oman.
Earlier, Oman’s environment and climate affairs minister called for “innovative” technology to improve energy and water supplies in the Sultanate.
“More than 100 companies are participating in the exhibition, which is an achievement. Some of the modern technologies are being showcased for the first time. The conference should aim to focus on creating more jobs in the energy and power fields,” he said, adding, “The conference needs to address loss of water and electricity issues, ways to improve energy, water conservation, as well as usage.”
Meanwhile, in his speech, the Chief Economist of Oman Investment Fund, Fabio Scacciavillani, stressed the need to benefit from the growth of some Asian and African economies.
He called for taking advantage of the geo-strategic position of Oman, located between growing India, China and Africa.
New deals were also signed between Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) and PAEW, and between PDO and Nama Group, to improve the security and reliability of the Sultanate’s electricity network.
PDO is the major exploration and production company, accounting for almost 70 percent of the country’s crude-oil production and nearly all of its natural-gas supply.
“The agreement will establish a framework for a more efficient and coordinated national electricity grid by integrating the existing networks,” said PDO’s managing director, Raoul Restucci.
Some 150 local and international power, water and waste management companies from 15 countries, including UK, France, Iran, India, Germany, Italy and Malaysia, are displaying various products, technologies and services related to water and power usage.