Oman’s Public Authority for Electricity & Water (PAEW) has extended the deadline for bids to build a desalination plant at Al-Awaifiya in the wilayat of Bahla.

PAEW originally set a deadline of 13 September, which has now been pushed back to 27 September.

The winning bidder will construct, operate and maintain the project, which will have a capacity of 200 cubic metres-a-day (cm/d).

The following companies have bought documents to bid:

• Galfar Engineering & Contracting (Oman)
• Al-Ansari Trading Enterprise (Oman)
• Oman National Engineering and Investment Company (Oman)
• Global Chemicals & Maintenance System (Oman)
• National United Engineering Construction Company (Oman)
• International Desalination & Water Treatment (Egypt)

This is the second time that PAEW has tendered the contract to build the project. Egypt’s International Desalination & Water Treatment offered the lowest bid to build the project in July 2009. The company submitted three prices ranging from RO648,000 to RO728,000 ($1.7m-$1.9m).

Oman National Engineering & Investment bid RO878,133. The local Al-Rafaa Trading & Contracting submitted two prices, RO995,575 and RO1.01m.