Oman’s Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco) will take over power capacity building plans at Musandam.

Under the original plan, Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP) was to tender an 80-100MW independent power project (IPP). The plant would serve the electricity needs of the governorate and complement a new gas conditioning facility nearby.

The project was to come under the authority of Raeco, but tendered by OPWP. Both are subsidiaries of Oman’s Electricity Holding Company.

However, following an analysis of demand, a decision has been taken to transfer the plans back to Raeco. As a result, the tender for advisers to work on the project for OPWP has been cancelled.

While 80-100MW is likely to be needed, this capacity may be brought online in stages. Raeco is now responsible for running any tenders for new capacity.

Most of Musandam’s power comes from small and ageing facilities that use oil and diesel. The new project was to be gas-fired.

The power plant was to complement a gas conditioning project at Musandam to be built by Oman Oil. At present, gas from Musandam is transported to the UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah. Oman Oil’s facility will process the gas in the sultanate itself.