SEMBCORP CONFIRMED AS PREFERRED BIDDER FOR SALALAH IWPP
January,12 2009
A team of Singapore's Sembcorp and the Oman Investment Corporation has been named as the preferred bidder for the Salalah independent water and power project (IWPP) in Oman.
The client, Oman Power & Water Procurement Company, is expected to officially award the contract in early March. By this time, all the project agreements including the power and water purchase agreement will also have been signed.
Financial close on the $1bn project is targeted for the second quarter of 2009. Standard Chartered is the sole underwriter on the $800m debt needed for the scheme.
However, the developers are also looking to access export credit finance through China Exim Bank. The participation of the Chinese export credit agency is made possible through the involvement of Shandong No.3 Electric Power Construction Corporation 3 (Sepco 3) in the project as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
The plant will have a capacity of 400MW of power and 15 million gallons a day of desalinated water (MEED 10:12:08).