Tenders for solar and diesel power generation including 28MW of battery storage has been floated by Omani power company Rural Areas Electricity Company (Tanweer)— a first for the Arab nation.
The Middle Eastern firm has floated a tender for solar (48MW), diesel generator (70MW) and storage hybrid projects to be developed at 11 sites, reports Mercom India.
The bid deadline is this September, with the winner charged with developing all 11 sites, with the applicant unable to select individual sites and opt out of others.
Oman has forecast its peak power demand will double to 10GW by 2023, of which, 11% will be generated from renewable energy sources. Renewables in the energy mix will rise a further 19% by 2030.
If successful, it will be the first time grid-scale storage has been deployed in Oman, according to the records of the Consortium for Battery Innovations and the Department of Energy Global Energy Storage Database.
The company— wholly owned by electricity holding company Nama Group, which is also owned by the Ministry of Finance— released an Expression of Interest (EoI) in June 2018.
Tanweer is Oman’s only power company to undertake five licenses; generation, transmission, distribution, supply and desalinated activities.
Despite its wealth, the Middle East has been slow to adopt energy storage to allay concerns of security of supply in its power infrastructure.
The United Arab Emirates leads the way with more than 200MW of storage— including 120MW sodium-sulfur and a 108MW virtual power plant. Other projects of note are Jordan (54MW) and Saudi Arabia (1MW).
