A consortium led by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation has signed the contract to develop an independent water project at Ghubrah, located in the Muscat governorate.

Sumitomo, along with Spain’s Cadagua and Malaysia’s Malakoff International, signed the contract on 11 February to establish a project company that will obtain a licence to build, own and operate (BOO) the 42 million gallon-a-day plant. Sumitomo and Malakoff will each have a 45 per cent holding in the project, with Cadagua holding the remainder.

Demand for water in the sultanate increased at a faster rate than anticipated in 2012, prompting the Public Authority of Electricity & Water (PAEW) to revise the capacity building plans for water projects. In June, PAEW awarded the local Galfar Engineering & Contracting a RO24m ($62.2m) contract to build a water distribution network in the wilayat of Nizwa in Al-Dakhiliya governorate.