Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has set a bid deadline of 15 May for developers to submit proposals for its planned 100MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant at Amin, located in the southern region of the sultanate.

MEED reported in February that PDO had extended the deadline for firms to submit expressions of interest, but the client has retained the original target of receiving bids for the project in May.

The solar plant is planned to be PDO’s first independent power producer (IPP) project. PDO will be the sole off-taker for the project, and will buy all of the electricity produced by the solar farm.

The contract will involve the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the solar plant for the duration of the power purchase agreement (PPA), which will be for a period of 23 years.

State utility Oman Power & Water Company (OPWP) is also moving ahead with plans to develop solar energy on a large-scale as part of the sultanate’s plans to diversify its energy resources.

In February, OPWP received prequalification entries from 28 groups for a planned PV solar IPP at Ibri, which is about 300 kilometres inland from Muscat. The proposed plant with have a power generation capacity of 500 MW.

The proposed IPP will be the second utility-scale renewables project planned in Oman, with the UAE’s Masdar developing a 50MW wind farm in the southern part of the sultanate in partnership with the local Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco).