PDO begins operations at solar power plant

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has announced that it has begun operations of the 100-megawatt Amin Photovoltaic Power Plant in Oman that will power some of its operations.

The Independent Power Producer (IPP) renewable energy project is located near Nimr which lies 300km north east of Salalah. The US$94 million facility covers an area of 4km2 and produces up to 100 megawatts of electricity.

It is one of the world's first utility scale solar projects to have an oil and gas company as the sole buyer of electricity.

The contract to develop, finance, build, operate and maintain the photovoltaic (PV) plant was awarded in January 2019 to Amin Renewable Energy Company, a special purpose company founded and developed by the Marubeni Corporation (Japan) as the lead founder, Oman Gas Company, Bahwan Renewable Energy Company, Nebras Power.

PDO managing director Raoul Restucci said: “Solar intensity in Oman provides an attractive platform to enable a lower carbon and more sustainable future and this flagship project is another building block in support of PDO’s continued transition to a fully-fledged energy company. The Amin power plant represents an excellent example of Oman's outstanding potential in renewable energy.

He added: “Indeed, we look forward to continuing to make further progress in our plans to gradually increase the utilisation of renewable resources in our activities and are currently in the process of evaluating a number of exciting opportunities including wind power installations in our southern locations.”

President and CEO of Marubeni Middle East and Africa Power Shunsuke Takahashi said: “This very important and first utility scale PV Solar project in Oman is a cornerstone to developing a more renewable based infrastructure in the country and Marubeni is very proud of being able to contribute to this strategic initiative together with our shareholding partners and PDO. The Amin project further underlines Marubeni’s strong desire to further expand its business activities in the power sector