Oman is planning to issue tenders for a 200MW solar project in 2016, according to the country’s electricity regulator.

Qais bin Saud al-Zakwani, executive president of the Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) Oman, said 200MW of solar capacity would be developed over two large sites in the Adam and Manah areas of the Dakhiliyah governorate, according to local press.

Al-Zakwani said the projects will use a combination of concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies. According to Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the offtaker of all electricity in Oman, in its latest seven-year electricity plan, the projects will be developed under the independent power project (IPP) model.

Last year, a study by Oman’s Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) estimated that rooftop PV systems installed across the country could potentially generate 1.4 GW of renewable energy. In the capital, Muscat, alone, the generated power capacity could reach 450MW, according to the study.

According to the regulator, OPWP is overseeing a study on solar radiation in the sultanate, a process that began in 2010.

AER is also working on a plan for introducing a solar rooftop programme, which will enable citizens to produce electricity and reduce their energy bills.

“We are currently establishing minimum technical standards and metering to compensate from their rooftop [PV] installations,” Al-Zakwani told local press.

Under the programme, residents will produce energy for the grid in return for a reduction of their electricity bill.