Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has prequalified seven groups to bid to build an independent water project (IWP) at Al-Ghubrah.

The following groups have been prequalified:

• Cobra (Spain), INIMA (Spain) and Zubair Corporation (Oman)
• Hyflux (Singapore), Mitsui (Japan) and Sarooj Construction (Oman)
• Marubeni (Japan), National Power & Water Company (Oman) and Oman Oil (Oman)
• Valoriza (Spain), Septech (UAE) and Brookfield Multiplex (Canada)
• Acciona Agua (Spain), Samsung Engineering (South Korea) and Sogex (Oman)
• Malakoff (Malaysia), Sumitomo Corporation (Japan) and Cadagua (Spain)
• Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain), Aqualia (Spain) and Orascom (Egypt)

OPWP has issued a request for proposals to the qualified companies. Bids are to be entered by the end of July/early-August. A preferred bidder is expected to be announced by October with an award made in November.

The desalination project will have a capacity of 42 million gallons a day (g/d) of water. The reverse-osmosis plant will help the sultanate meet growing water demand requirements in the Muscat region.

OPWP is being advised by KPMG Oman and the UK’s SNR Denton, and Germany’s Fichtner on the project.

The project was originally to be developed as an independent water and power project, but the power component of the project was dropped in June 2010 due to environmental concerns associated with the site.