EDF begins construction of Omani solar plant

EDF Renewables and its partner Korea Western Power Company have begun construction of the 500-MW Manah 1 solar project in Oman, the consortium partners announced on Wednesday.

The facility is located in Manah in the Al Dakhiliyah governorate, around 120 kilometres south of Muscat, on 7.8 square kilometres of land.

The consortium also announced choosing American-Australian engineering giant Worley as lead engineer for the project.

The Manah 1 project is expected to be commissioned by Q1 2025 and will power 50,000 Omani homes and offset more than 780,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Nama Power & Water Procurement has already signed purchase agreements for the energy produced by the project.

The FDI for the Manah 1 and Manah 2 solar projects was made in March 2023.

Both developments will have a capacity to generate 500 MW and are considered together to be worth more than 775 million.

The Manah 2 project will be developed by Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries and China-headquartered Jinko Power Technology.

Oman intends to produce 30% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

At the end of 2022, French green technology company EDF Renewables operated a net installed wind and solar capacity of 11.4 GW worldwide.

State-run Korea Western Power Company was established in 2001 and operates a 12-GW thermal and combined-cycle power plant that supplies around 9% of Korea’s power generation.