Oman secures finance for power projects
Consortium for Barka 3 and Sohar 2 says it has raised $1.3 billion
Muscat: The consortium for the Barka 3 and Sohar 2 independent power projects in Oman said on Monday it has secured $1.3 billion (Dh4.7 billion) in financing.
The $1.7 billion greenfield natural gas-fired power plants would each have a capacity of 744 megawatts when operational by April 2013, the consortium said.
Together the power plants would add almost 1,500 megawatts to the country's capacity of 3,600 megawatts.
Their power output would be sold under two separate 15-year power-purchase contracts to the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, which would be the sole offtaker.
The consortium is made up of Kahrabel GDF SUEZ Group (46 per cent) with Bahwan Engineering Group (22 per cent) and Oman's Public Authority for Social Insurance (10 per cent).
The Japanese partners are Shikoku Electric Power Company, and Sojitz Corporation (each 11 per cent).
Eight banks — Natixis, KfW-IPEX, Credit Agricole, HSBC, Bayerische Landesbank, Europe Arab Bank, CIC and Standard Chartered Bank — and two export credit facilities (Euler-Hermes and KEXIM) are providing the loans for the projects. Senior debt amounts to about $650 million per project, or $1,300 million in total.
Full completion
Early power for Barka 3 and Sohar 2 is expected to be commissioned by May 2012 and full completion of the plants by April 2013.
Germany's conglomerate Siemens and South Korea's GS Engineering and Construction have won a $1.3 billion contract to build two thermal power plants in Oman.
Oman Power and Water Procurement Company said the demand for electricity is expected to grow 8.5 per cent or 374 megawatts per annum in the main interconnected system for another five or six years to 6,043 megawatts by 2016.
Guy Richelle, president and chief executive officer of GDF Suez Middle East, Asia and Africa said: "GDF Suez commissioned its first pioneering Independent Power Project in the Middle East in 1996 at Manah in Oman".
"In this country our group laid the foundations for its successful development of power and water projects in the GCC," Richelle said.
