Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has received prequalification entries from 12 developers for the contract to develop its next independent water project (IWP).

OPWP received the entries on 28 October for the deal, which involves building an IWP with a capacity of up to 46 million gallons a day (g/d) or 207,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of water, located just south of the capital Muscat.

Spanish firms accounted for five of the 12 prequalification entries, with three UAE firms and two each from Singapore and Japan.

The developers that submitted prequalification entries are:

• Abengoa (Spain)
• Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) (UAE)
• Acciona (Spain)
• Cobra Instalaciones Y Servicios (Spain)
• GS INIMA (Spain)
• Hyflux (Singapore)
• Itochu (Japan)
• PAL Technology Services (UAE)
• Sembcorp (Singapore)
• Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)
• Utico (UAE)
• Valoriza Agua (Spain)

One of the companies bidding for prequalification is Sumitomo Corporation, which in February this year signed the contract to develop an IWP at Ghubrah, located in the Muscat governorate.

Sumitomo, along with Spain’s Cadagua and Malaysia’s Malakoff International, signed the deal on 11 February to establish a project company that will obtain a licence to build, own and operate (BOO) the 191,000-cm/d plant. Sumitomo and Malakoff will each hold a 45 per cent stake in the scheme, with Cadagua owning 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 capacity-building plans for water projects. Water demand in the northern region, which includes the Main Interconnected System (MIS), Sur zone and Duqm zone, is expected to increase by 6 per cent a year, from 597,430 cm/d in 2012 to 866,00 cm/d in 2019. In the southern Salalah region, water demand is also expected to grow at a rate of 6 per cent, from 61,000 cm/d in 2012 to 88,000 cm/d in 2019.