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Oman's Barka 5 independent water project (IWP) is expected to reach commercial operations in 2024, Nama Power & Water Procurement Company indicated in its latest Seven-Year Statement.

A source close to the project also confirmed that construction works are under way on the scheme, which is the sultanate's eighth IWP so far.

In November 2020, Madrid-headquartered GS Inima won the contract to develop the Barka 5 IWP, which has a design capacity of 100,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

It reached an equity bridge loan agreement with project lenders in June last year, as MEED reported.

US/India-based Synergy Consulting is financial adviser to GS Inima on the project.

GS Inima, in a consortium with local contractor Sogex and Saudi Arabia's Aljomaih, won the contract to develop another IWP in Oman, the 300,000 cm/d Ghubrah 3 IWP, in 2020.

According to Nama Power & Water Procurement Company's latest Seven-Year Statement, the Ghubrah 3 IWP is expected to come onstream in 2026. 

Both seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) schemes will be developed under a 20-year water purchase agreement between the developer and offtaker.

Netherlands-based KPMG is the client's financial adviser, the UK’s DLA Piper is legal adviser and Germany’s Fichtner is the technical adviser for both projects.

Italy's Fisia Italimpianti will participate as a 50 per cent joint-venture partner in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the two IWPs. GS Inima will account for the remaining 50 per cent.

The EPC contracts for the Ghubrah 3 and Barka 5 IWPs are worth an estimated $330m.

Oman has so far awarded nine IWPs since 2009. They include plants in Sharqiyah, Salalah, Sohar, Ghubrah, Barka and Qurayyat.

Peak water demand in the sultanate's Main Interconnected System is expected to increase by an average of 2 per cent annually, from 1,172,000 cubic metres a day in 2022 to 1,387,000 in 2029, according to the state offtaker.

A higher growth rate of 5 per cent annually is expected in the sultanate's Sharqiyah zone, and 7 per cent in Dhofar.