The consortium of South Korea’s Doosan, Japan’s JGC and the local Bahwan Group has finalised the agreeement with state utility Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) for the contract to develop the planned Sharqiyah independent water plant (IWP).

MEED had earlier reported that OPWP had selected the group to develop the IWP, and according to sources close to the project the water purchase agreement (WPA) has now been signed.

The consortium was one of three groups that submitted bids for the 17.5 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) IWP in October 2016.

The regional offices of India's Synergy Consulting was financial adviser for the consortium.

OPWP recently awarded the contract for the 22MIGD Salalah IWP to a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power.

The consortium, which also contains France’s Veolia and the local Dhofar International Development & Investment holding Company (DIDC), will develop the 25 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD) desalination plant in the Southern Omani governorate of Dhofar.

The developer consortium, which has formed Dhofar Desalination Company, has signed a 20-year water purchase agreement (WPA) with state utility Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) to supply water from the plant.

The project company has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a consortium of Italy’s Fisia Italimpianti and Spain’s Abengoa to build the Salalah plant. The value of the EPC deal is expected to be over $100m. Construction works are due to begin to start in the second quarter of 2018.

Similarly to the Sharqiyah project, OPWP received proposals from three developer groups for the contract in October 2016.