Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has prequalified eight groups for the upcoming tender for the planned Ghubrah 3 independent water producer (IWP) project.

OPWP received prequalification entries from 11 groups in March for the planned Ghubrah 3 desalination project, and has shortlisted eight firms that will receive tender documents in the coming weeks.

The eight groups that have been prequalified to participate in the tender are led by the following developers:

• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• Cobra (Spain) / FCC Aqualia (Spain) / Majis Industrial Service (local)
• Engie (France)
• GS Inima (South Korea)
• Marubeni Corporation (Japan)
• Suez (France)
• Sembcorp Utilities (Singapore)
• Sumitomo (Japan) / Malakoff International (Malaysia).

MEED reported in February that OPWP had appointed Netherlands-based KPMG as financial adviser, the UK’s DLA Piper as legal adviser and Germany’s Fichtner as technical adviser for the Ghubrah 3 project.

The planned IWP will have a capacity of 66 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

The Ghubrah project is the latest of a number of IWPs the sultanate is pressing ahead with as it seeks to meet the rapidly growing demand for desalinated water.

MEED reported in December that a consortium of South Korea’s Doosan, Japan’s JGC and the local Bahwan Group had finalised agreeements with OPWP for the contract to develop the planned Sharqiyah IWP.

Also in late 2017, OPWP 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.