Sohar Power ready to supply additional power from IWPP

29/07/2010 00:00 AST

Sohar Power Company is hopeful of concluding before the year-end a long-term agreement with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) for the supply of additional power from its Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) located within the industrial port at Sohar.

Murtadha Ahmed Sultan, Chairman, stated in the Board of Directors’ report that the company has submitted a number of proposals to OPWP for providing additional power capacity beyond the current capacity guaranteed under the Power and Water Purchase Agreement (PWPA).

“The technical adviser appointed by the company’s lenders has completed in this quarter its annual review of the operations of the plant, and has concluded that Sohar Power is in a good position to consistently meet its PWPA commitments, control its operational costs, and secure the anticipated revenues,” Murtadha Ahmed Sultan noted.

During the first six months of this year, the company exported 1,143.9 GWh (gigawatt hours) of power. A total of 13.155 million cubic metres of distillate was also produced, of which 10.89 million m3 was supplied as potable drinking water, while 0.222 million m3 of distillate water was delivered to industries in the Sohar industrial area under the distillate water supply agreement. Total power despatched represented 48.9 per cent of available capacity, while water produced was 51.5 per cent of available capacity during this period.

The company registered a net profit of RO 2.204 million in the second quarter of this year, as against RO 1.736 million during the corresponding quarter of 2009. Revenues earned during the first six months of this year totalled RO 20.318 million, as against the previous year’s first half earnings of RO 22.435 million. The decline in revenues was “mainly due to lower fuel and distillate water revenue and higher power and water capacity charges in the six months of 2010”, the report said.

Sohar Power’s 585 MW power plant and 33 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) water desalination facility was brought into commercial operation in May 2008.

Oman Daily Observer