Oman inaugurates public utilities facility

MUSCAT, Oman, Dec. 19, 2007 -- The Sohar independent power and desalination plant was formally inaugurated on 16 Dec. 2007 by Sayyid Mansoor Bin Majid Al Said, advisor to the minister of heritage and culture.

Murthada Bin Ahmad Bin Sultan, chairman of the Board of Sohar Power Company SAOC and Dirk Beeuwsaert, CEO of SuezEnergy International were also present.

The Sohar power and desalination plant has been in full commercial operation since May 2007, and the $550 million facility is now able to deliver its full combined cycle capacity of 585 MW to the main Oman interconnected system. The power plant is coupled to a desalination plant able to deliver 33 million gallons of drinking water per day.

In 2006, the plant operated in open cycle up to its maximum load of 360 MW to support the grid demand peaking at 2,600 MW.

With a power capacity of 585 MW, the Sohar plant adds 23 per cent of electricity to the main interconnected system where the total demand is growing at a rate of over 10 per cent and the peak demand growth rate is estimated at nine per cent.

Its water output increases the drinking water production in the Batinah/Muscat region by 65 percent.

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