- KOWEPO says it has been selected by OPWP to build 500 MW Manah I Solar Power Plant in Oman
- It is scheduled to enter construction in H2/2023, and start commercial operations in March 2025
- The company expects to realize the project for an investment of KRW 600 billion and sell power generated to OPWP for 20 years
Korea Western Power (KOWEPO), a subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), has won a contract from Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) to build 500 MW Manah I Solar Power Plant in Oman for an investment of KRW 600 billion ($460 million).
South Korea’s KOWEPO will construct, commission and also maintain the facility on completion, supplying clean power generated to OPWP for a period of 20 years.
The project will be built in Dakhiliya and completed by March 2025 after construction kickstarts in H2/2023. It will be built alongside 500 MW Manah II Solar PV Project for which Sembcorp Industries and JinkoPower consortium recently announced themselves as the winning party (see Oman’s 500 MW Solar Power Plant Winners).
KOWEPO comes with an experience of having built some large-scale solar power plants within and outside of Korea. “This order is the first case that a domestic public power company has shown its international competitiveness in new and renewable energy,” said KOWEPO President Park Hyung-deok.
Management says it entered business in Oman in 2019 with domestic and foreign companies, clearing pre-qualification stage, post which bidding process was delayed for various reasons including COVID-19, residents objecting to the project, and ‘partner abandonment of business’. KOWEPO prequalified with its consortium partners Hanyang Corporation, Solar Reserve Limited and Nafath Renewable Energy LLC (see OPWP Identifies Pre-Qualifiers For Over 1 GW PV Tender).
“However, based on its stable corporate credit rating and excellent financing ability, Western Power has forged a new partnership with EDF-Renewables (EDF-R), a subsidiary of the French state-run electric power company (EDF), to regroup,” added KOWEPO.
The Korean company says on completion of 1 GW solar PV capacity as Manah I and II projects, it will be become the largest solar power plant in Oman.
