Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has announced plans to develop a seawater desalination project in the Dhofar area of the sultanate with a capacity of 100,000 cu m per day, said a report.

OPWP, which oversees procurement of all new water and electricity capacity in the sultanate, has already started an initiative to find a suitable site for the project, reported the Times of Oman, citing a seven-year outlook report released by the company.

The desalination project, called Salalah Four IWP, is expected to generate water in 2022, as the state-owned agency expects the need for a large-scale desalination plant for meeting the growing demand for water.

The new project is required to meet an annual average growth of nine per cent in potable water demand for the next seven years - from 42.6 million cu m in 2016 to 78.4 million cu m in 2023, noted the seven-year outlook report.

The project will be developed by a private player on a build, own, operate (BOO) basis, it added.