Sumitomo wins desalination plant project in Oman

Japan-based Sumitomo has won a contract from Oman Power and Water Procurement Company to build a desalination plant in Al Ghubrah, Muscat, along with Malakoff of Malaysia and Cadagua of Spain.

Estimated to cost JPY30bn ($377m), the project will be funded by Japanese financial institutions.

The plant will use reverse osmosis technology and supply water that is equivalent to the amount consumed by about 800,000 people daily.

Slated to begin operations in September 2014, the desalination plant will have a daily treatment capacity of 190,000m³.

The facility, which is a build-own-operate (BOO) project, will be operated and maintained for a 20-year period.

Sumitomo and Malakoff will each hold a 45% stake in the project. Cadagua will build the plant with VA Tech Wabag, an India-based water engineering firm.

Located on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman’s daily water demand has currently reached 700,000m³ and is expected to increase by 2%-3% per year.

Considering the rising demand for water in the metropolitan area around Muscat, the Government of Oman is exploring ways to introduce multiple independent water projects (IWPs) to address the crisis in the future.

The current project to be undertaken by Sumitomo is believed to be the first large-scale IWP in Oman.

Sumitomo builds water infrastructure to improve the living standards of countries by pursuing optimal schemes for each region.

---

Image: Sumitomo will build a desalination plant in Al Ghubrah, Muscat. Photo: James Grellier.