Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has received bids from developers for the tender to develop the Sohar and Barka independent water projects (IWPs) in the sultanate.

OPWP received bids from the groups on 17 August. It is not yet clear how many groups submitted offers.

The Barka IWP will have a capacity of 280,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), while the Sohar IWP will have a capacity of 250,000 cm/d. Both plants will use reverse osmosis (RO) technology.

OPWP expects to select two different developers for the projects due to their size. The sites were selected due to their proximity to existing infrastructure.

Eight groups had been prequalified for the tender. Five groups had been prequalified unconditionally, and three had been prequalified with conditions. OPWP received prequalification entries from 12 consortiums on 25 March for the two projects.

Earlier in 2015, OPWP signed a water purchase agreement with Singapore’s Hyflux to develop a 200,000-cm/d IWP at Qurayyat.

Hyflux owns 85 per cent of shares in Qurayyat Desalination Company. Hyflux Utility (Oman) and Hyflux International Modern Channels Services hold the remaining 15 per cent of shares. The Qurayyat independent water project (IWP) will have a capacity of 200,000 cm/d and will use RO technology. The plant is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Water demand in Oman is expected to rise by more than 6 per cent a year until 2020, according to OPWP.