Chinese contractor takes two packages on $910m Duqm power plant

Summary

• China Eleventh Chemical Construction Company won two construction packages on Oman's $910 million Duqm IPP.
• The 890-megawatt gas plant is built by a Korean-Qatari-Emirati-Omani consortium, Coastal Power SAOC.
• Duqm's power base expands as Oman courts heavy industry into its special economic zone.

The latest

Two construction packages on the $910 million Duqm Independent Power Project have gone to China Eleventh Chemical Construction Company, according to Gulf Daily News, citing Oman Observer and procurement notices. The 890-megawatt combined-cycle gas turbine plant sits inside the Duqm Special Economic Zone and is scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2029.

Details

• The packages: According to the procurement notices, Package H covers civil works on the EPC project, while a second package covers temporary material warehousing, office facilities, ground works, and monitoring and lighting installations. Values for the individual packages were not disclosed.
• The developer: The project is being developed by Coastal Power SAOC, a consortium bringing together Korea Western Power, Qatar's Nebras Energy, UAE-based Etihad Water and Electricity, and Oman's Bahwan Infrastructure Services. The structure places Korean, Qatari, Emirati and Omani capital behind a single Omani generation asset.
• The main contractors: Gulf Daily News reported that the principal EPC contractors are SepcoIII, part of PowerChina, and South Korea's Doosan Enerbility. Doosan's portion of the contract is valued at roughly $385 million, more than a third of the project's headline $910 million cost.
• The technology: The plant is a combined-cycle gas turbine facility rated at 890 megawatts. Combined-cycle units recover exhaust heat from the gas turbine to drive a second steam cycle, delivering higher efficiency per unit of fuel than a simple-cycle plant of comparable size.
• The timeline: Commercial operations are planned for 2029, leaving roughly a three-year construction and commissioning runway from the award of the packages. No interim milestone dates for civil works completion or turbine delivery were announced alongside the package awards.
• The location: The plant is being built in the Duqm Special Economic Zone on Oman's central coast, the country's flagship industrial development area. Power supply has been a prerequisite for the heavy industry and refining activity Oman has sought to anchor there.
• The procurement trail: The award was disclosed through procurement notices issued by the Oman branch of Power Construction Corporation of China and by Nama Power and Water Procurement Company, the state entity that contracts for generation capacity across the sultanate.
• The policy frame: Gulf Daily News tied the project to Oman's wider effort to diversify power generation and attract large-scale industrial investment into Duqm, with independent power producers used to bring private capital into capacity additions.

Background

The independent power producer model lets a private consortium finance, build and operate a plant, selling output under a long-term offtake agreement with a state procurer. In Oman, Nama Power and Water Procurement Company is the single buyer for such capacity.

Between the lines

The contracting map is unusually layered: Chinese firms hold the main EPC role through SepcoIII and now the civil packages through China Eleventh Chemical Construction Company, while Doosan Enerbility's $385 million share points to Korean equipment at the core. Equity, meanwhile, spans four countries. Duqm's power build is being assembled from several supply chains at once.

What's next

Watch for disclosure of the package values, interim construction milestones ahead of the 2029 commercial operation date, and any further subcontract awards issued through Nama Power and Water Procurement Company for the Duqm site.

Source: Gulf Daily News, Oman Observer