State utility Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has invited firms to submit bids for a consultancy services contract on the planned Ibri 2 photovoltaic (PV) solar project.

OPWP has invited consultants to submit proposals by 14 April for the consultancy contract on the 500MW PV project.

MEED reported in November that three groups had submitted proposals for the main developer contract for the planned Ibri 2 solar project, which will be developed under the independent power producer (IPP) model.

According to sources close to the project, bids were received from the following developers:

• Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
• Marubeni (Japan)
• Masdar (UAE) / Total (France) / Jinko Solar (China)

OPWP previously appointed Germany’s Fichtner and the UK’s DLA Piper as the technical and legal advisers, respectively, for the scheme. OPWP has also appointed US/India’s Synergy Consulting as financial adviser for the solar project.

The project is part of Oman’s plans to diversify its fuel resources for power generation.

In February, a consortium led by Japan’s Marubeni signed the power-purchase agreement (PPA) to develop a 100MW PV solar project at Amin in the southern region of the sultanate.