Oman reviews Gubrah 3 water project bids

05 February 2020
Two teams have submitted a bid for the contract to develop the planned Ghubrah 3 independent water project in Oman

State utilities provider Oman Power & Water Company (OPWP) is evaluating bids for the planned Ghubrah 3 independent water project (IWP) in Oman, according to sources with knowledge of the scheme.

Two teams submitted a bid for the contract in December. They are:

  • GS Inima (South Korea-Spain) / Aljomaih (Saudi Arabia)
  • Sumitomo (Japan) / Malakoff (Malaysia)

The 66 million-imperial-gallon-a-day (MIGD) project will be developed under a 20-year water purchase agreement (WPA), which will be signed between the successful developer and state utilities provider Oman Power & Water Company (OPWP).

MEED reported that the client has set a target date of 29 April next year for awarding the contract to develop the plant, with full commercial operation scheduled by 1 October 2023.

OPWP prequalified the following eight developers to participate in the tender for the project:

  • Acwa Power (Saudi Arabia)
  • Cobra (Spain) / FCC Aqualia (Spain) / Majis Industrial Service (local)
  • Engie (France)
  • GS Inima (South Korea)
  • Marubeni Corporation (Japan)
  • Suez (France)
  • Sembcorp Utilities (Singapore)
  • Sumitomo (Japan) / Malakoff International (Malaysia)

OPWP appointed Netherlands-based KPMG as financial adviser, the UK’s DLA Piper as legal adviser and Germany’s Fichtner as technical adviser for the Ghubrah 3 project.

In early January, MEED reported that Madrid-headquartered GS Inima had emerged as the frontrunner for the planned Barka 5, the second IWP currently under procurement in Oman. The planned desalination plant is expected to have a capacity of 100,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

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