Three international firms including Japan's Mitsui and Singapore's Sembcorp are vying to develop a new power plant in Oman, the state-run Oman Power and Water Procurement Company said.

The company has shortlisted the firms to build a 400MW power and water desalination plant located in Salalah in the south of the country, company project manager Ahmed Al Busaidy said.

Oman needs to increase gas supplies by 48 per cent to 7.2 billion cubic metres a year by 2013 to fuel power and desalination plants as it attempts to meet rising demand, Oman Power said.

"There are three firms left in contention, others did not qualify after the May 12 deadline," Al Busaidy said. "They are Sembcorp, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Mitsui."

Oman Power expects to award the contract in the last quarter of this year, Al Busaidy said.

The desalination plant would supply 15 million gallons of water per day and the power plant was expected to be in operation in the summer next year, he said.

According to Oman Power, demand in the southern region around Salalah will more than double to 570MW in 2013 from 230MW in 2006.

Salalah is attracting investment in its tourism industry.

Several large-scale industrial projects, including methanol production, are also under various stages of planning and development at the Salalah Free Zone.-TradeArabia News Service