Wed, 05 October 2011
By Conrad Prabhu -
MUSCAT — Around 10 local and international engineering consultants are preparing to bid for a key government contract to master-plan the long-term development of Oman’s power grid.
The state-run Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), which owns and operates the transmission network serving much of the northern half of the Sultanate, plans to appoint a qualified consultancy firm to undertake the master-plan study.
According to Rashid Said al Badwawi (pictured), Strategic Planning and Projects Manager, the study is indispensable to charting the scope and pace of the expansion of the Main Interconnected System (MIS) covering an estimated half a million customers.
“Unlike previous master-plan studies which typically cover five-year growth scenarios, the new study will make a long-range assessment of network growth spanning the 2014-2030 timeframe. OETC needs to be suitably prepared to respond to the transmission requirements of the country especially at a time of high demand growth, fuelled by investments in tourism, industrial and infrastructure projects,” Al Badwawi said in comments to the Observer.
Consultancy firms that have signaled a desire to participate in a competitive tender for the master-plan study contract are: Energoprojekt Entel, WS Atkins, Yas Consulting, Universal Consulting, Mott Macdonald & Company, Muscat International Consultants, Monenco Consulting, Poyry & Company, Dawood Engineering and Worley Parsons Oman. Bids open on October 17, 2011.
Al Badwawi said the master-plan study will cover a broad range of objectives. “It will look at the kind of projects envisaged in the future, network upgrades necessary in the futures, issues facing the network, and so on. With a long-range master-plan, we will also be better equipped to plan for projects that involve lengthy lead times, as well devise networks optimised for transmission efficiency, and so on. Our ultimate goal is provide better services to our customers.”
While electricity demand growth varies from year to year, demand can often surge to as much 10 per cent year-on-year, which is a steep jump for utilities anywhere in the world, says Al Badwawi. Consequently, OETC must be prepared to respond to these growth challenges by planning well ahead of anticipated demand, he stresses.
The master-plan study, the official said, will cover all of the inhabited regions of the Sultanate with the exception of Dhofar Governorate, Musandam Governorate, and areas served by the Rural Areas Electricity Company (REAC).
Asked about coverage of Duqm, which is the site of an ambitious industrial development anchored by a port and dry-dock complex, Al Badwawi said: “At the present juncture, there is no plan to cover Duqm.
However, there have been some provisional discussions, notably with the Supreme Committee for Town Planning, on extending the network to Duqm. Should the need arise to include Duqm in the master-plan study, a call will be taken at that point.”
“While this new capacity will go a long way in meeting electricity demand growth over the next several years, additional capacity will become necessary sometime thereafter, meaning that we can expect further growth in the transmission network as well.”
MUSCAT — Around 10 local and international engineering consultants are preparing to bid for a key government contract to master-plan the long-term development of Oman’s power grid.
The state-run Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), which owns and operates the transmission network serving much of the northern half of the Sultanate, plans to appoint a qualified consultancy firm to undertake the master-plan study.
According to Rashid Said al Badwawi (pictured), Strategic Planning and Projects Manager, the study is indispensable to charting the scope and pace of the expansion of the Main Interconnected System (MIS) covering an estimated half a million customers.
“Unlike previous master-plan studies which typically cover five-year growth scenarios, the new study will make a long-range assessment of network growth spanning the 2014-2030 timeframe. OETC needs to be suitably prepared to respond to the transmission requirements of the country especially at a time of high demand growth, fuelled by investments in tourism, industrial and infrastructure projects,” Al Badwawi said in comments to the Observer.
Consultancy firms that have signaled a desire to participate in a competitive tender for the master-plan study contract are: Energoprojekt Entel, WS Atkins, Yas Consulting, Universal Consulting, Mott Macdonald & Company, Muscat International Consultants, Monenco Consulting, Poyry & Company, Dawood Engineering and Worley Parsons Oman. Bids open on October 17, 2011.
Al Badwawi said the master-plan study will cover a broad range of objectives. “It will look at the kind of projects envisaged in the future, network upgrades necessary in the futures, issues facing the network, and so on. With a long-range master-plan, we will also be better equipped to plan for projects that involve lengthy lead times, as well devise networks optimised for transmission efficiency, and so on. Our ultimate goal is provide better services to our customers.”
While electricity demand growth varies from year to year, demand can often surge to as much 10 per cent year-on-year, which is a steep jump for utilities anywhere in the world, says Al Badwawi. Consequently, OETC must be prepared to respond to these growth challenges by planning well ahead of anticipated demand, he stresses.
The master-plan study, the official said, will cover all of the inhabited regions of the Sultanate with the exception of Dhofar Governorate, Musandam Governorate, and areas served by the Rural Areas Electricity Company (REAC).
Asked about coverage of Duqm, which is the site of an ambitious industrial development anchored by a port and dry-dock complex, Al Badwawi said: “At the present juncture, there is no plan to cover Duqm.
However, there have been some provisional discussions, notably with the Supreme Committee for Town Planning, on extending the network to Duqm. Should the need arise to include Duqm in the master-plan study, a call will be taken at that point.”
“While this new capacity will go a long way in meeting electricity demand growth over the next several years, additional capacity will become necessary sometime thereafter, meaning that we can expect further growth in the transmission network as well.”
Courtesy of Oman Observer
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