Consultant sought for Oman’s $1bn Waste-to-Energy project

Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), the sole procurer of new power generation capacity, has invited qualified consultants to bid for its contract for the provision of technical advisory services linked to the development of the first Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project in the Sultanate of Oman.

A Request for Proposals (RfP) issued by OPWP, a member of Nama Group, comes on the heels of last month’s key agreement signed with Oman Environment Services Holding Company (be’ah), which operates and manages the country’s municipal waste sector.

The pact enables be’ah, as the primary source of municipal waste as feedstock for the proposed WTE project, and OPWP – the procurer of new capacity – to work together to achieve the successful delivery of the landmark venture.

Last month’s agreement revives stalled efforts to utilise the huge amounts of high calorific municipal waste accumulating in landfills across the country as feedstock in the first Independent Power Project (IPP) of its kind. Those efforts were stymied by the recent global economic downturn, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in, among other impacts, an unprecedented decline in electricity demand growth in the Sultanate of Oman.

However, with the Omani government looking to actively harness renewables, including municipal waste, as part of its diversification away from natural gas for power generation, the WTE scheme is back on the front-burner. This time around, OPWP and be’ah are looking at a significantly ramped up 130 – 150 MW capacity plant, up from the approximately 50 MW scheme envisaged earlier.

For state-run be’ah – part of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) – the WTE project will also contribute significantly to its circular economy strategy. By contributing around 4,500 tonnes per day of municipal waste as feedstock for the project, be’ah hopes to reduce the carbon footprint associated with its landfills. Over the roughly 35-year operational life of the project, an estimated 50 million tonnes of municipal waste are expected to be channelised towards the WTE project, thereby contributing to the Sultanate of Oman’s carbon abatement targets as well.

An award for the technical advisory services contract will be announced by June 30, 2022, according to OPWP.