The deadline for main contract bids on wind turbines for Oman’s Harweel Wind Farm in Dhofar has been extended until 12 April.

The contract involves the supply of up to 25 wind turbines with a capacity of 50MW, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and operation.

Prequalification took place in late 2014.

Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is providing funding for the $200m project, in cooperation with Oman’s Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco). Raeco will take over operations at the wind farm three years after commissioning, which is scheduled for 2017.

Austria’s ILF Consulting Engineers are the technical consultantson the project.

Raeco plans to invest RO153m ($397.4m) in electricity generation, transmission and distribution between 2015 and 2017, according to local press. Demand in the regions it covers (Musandam, Al-Wusta and Dhofar governorates) is growing faster than expected, especially in the industrial sector.

Schemes planned to boost Oman’s electricity capacity include Salalah and Musandam independent power projects (IPPs) and eight diesel to gas power plant conversions.

Oman’s first solar power project, Mazyuna, using photovoltaic technology, will come online in May. It has a capacity of 303kw, according to the CEO of Raeco, Hamad bin Salim al-Maghdari.

However, Oman has no large-scale solar projects in the pipeline.

Follow Philippa Wilkinson on Twitter @Philippa_MEED