Oman’s Public Authority for Electricity & Water (PAEW) has invited contractors to submit bids for the deal to build a water distribution network for the wilayat of Bidbid.

Firms have until 3 November to submit bids for the contract.

The project is one of several schemes the sultanate is developing as part of plans to expand and upgrade its water transmission infrastructure.

Earlier in 2014, PAEW announced it is planning to spend about RO580m ($1.5bn) on new water supply schemes over the next five years until 2019. The majority of the projects will transport water from existing and planned desalination plants to urban and outlying rural areas.

One of the major planned transmission schemes will link the proposed Qurayyat independent water project (IWP) to the water grid. In early September, Oman Power & Water Procurement Company(OPWP) received bids from six groups for the contract to develop the IWP, which will be located just south of Muscat.

The facility will have a capacity of up to 46 million gallons a day (g/d).