A CONSORTIUM headed by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation is understood to have been selected as the developer for Oman’s biggest greenfield power project.

The 2000 MW project will be located in Sur, on a site between the Oman-India Fertiliser scheme (Omifco) and the Oman LNG complex within Sur Industrial Estate, according to the Oman Observer.

Marubeni heads a high-profile consortium comprising Chubu Electric, which is Japan’s third largest electric utility, Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), which owns roughly 60 per cent of the power generation capacity in Qatar, and Multitech, the specialist power engineering arm of Oman’s Bahwan Engineering Company.

The keenly-contested international tender attracted a number of leading regional and international players. The developer acquires the licence to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain a power-only facility estimated to cost around $1.5 billion.

The state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP), which oversees the development of all power generation and related water desalination capacity, is targeting a mid-July timeframe for the signing of the crucial Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Marubeni is understood to have selected the Korean engineering firm, Daewoo, as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the IPP project.

The project is expected to be completed on a fast-track basis with the offtaker having set a deadline of the first quarter of 2012 for part of the IPP’s output, equivalent to roughly 400 MW of generation capacity. The IPP’s full capacity is slated for full commissioning ahead of peak summer demand in 2014.

Natural gas for the project, which does not include a water desalination component, will be supplied via an existing gas pipeline that currently serves the Omifco-LNG complex.

However, the developer will be required to design, finance, construct, operate and maintain seawater intake and outfall facilities linked to the project.