Leading South Korean engineering firm Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company has been awarded the contract for a key desalination project being developed at an investment of $203 million in Al Sharqiyah governorate of Oman.

Last December, the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) - the sole buyer of power and water output under the sector law - had declared Al Asilah Desalination Company (Asilah) as the winner of the licence to design, finance, build, operate and maintain a new independent water project (IWP) at Aseelah.

Asilah is majority (75 per cent) owned by Japanese engineering company JGC Corporation, while the rest of the stake is with Oman-based United Infrastructure Development Company (20 per cent) and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company (5 per cent).

The contract involves the construction, operation and maintenance for a period of 20 years on a BOO (Build-Own-Operate）basis of a seawater desalination plant with the application of reverse osmosis membrane, said a statement from JGG Corporation.

Once the plant starts operation in 2021, it will supply nearly 80,000 cu m per day (equivalent to 17 million imperial gallons per day), which is sufficient to provide potable water for a population of 200,000.  

All the parties have signed finance agreements this month to extend project financing towards this project and the project has started in full swing.

Part of the financing for the total project cost of around 20 billion yen will be provided through project financing by MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited and Shinsei Bank, Limited, whose loan would be covered by Overseas Untied Loan Insurance provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

JGC said the selection of Asilah as the successful bidder was a result of positive evaluations of the Japanese group's ability to apply its engineering knowledge and proven capacity to provide innovative ideas that enable the reduction of energy required to operate and its ability to keep the unit cost of the water produced low.-TradeArabia News Service