MUSCAT, OCT 1 - Wadi Al Jizzi Power Plant, one of the oldest gas-based Independent Power Projects currently in operation in the Sultanate, will be formally retired next September, according to Nama Group (The Electricity Holding Company). The 326 MW capacity plant, owned and operated by Wadi Al Jizzi Company Power Company (WAJPC) — part of Nama Group — will make way for more energy-efficient and environment-friendly generation capacity due to come on stream in 2019. “The power agreement (with Wadi Al Jizzi Power Company) will expire in September 2018, and will not be renewed due to the age and low efficiency of the plant compared to modern stations,” Nama Group said.
“Therefore, the (WAJPC) has adopted an Employee Redeployment Plan in 2016 as a part of a major initiative of the shutdown plan. In terms of staff, their redeployment plan was approved with a primary focus on finding suitable alternative employment options for surplus staff, and strategic objectives were defined in the plan, and where placed under the management of the Human Resources Department. Those objectives will be implemented in parallel with the shutdown plan,” it added in its newly published Annual Report 2016. Located off Sohar in Batinah South Governorate, the plant came into operation in 1982 initially with a small number of Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGT), the predecessor of the more energy-efficient Close Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGT), which are currently installed in most modern plants around Oman and the wider world. New units were added in phases through to 1990.
In 2016, the plant produced a total of 615 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity, nearly 50 per cent higher than the previous year’s output of 416 GWh — driven by higher demand growth during the year. Revenues jumped to RO 17.132 million last year, up from the previous year’s earnings of RO 10.678 million. Net profit before tax soared to RO 2.923 million in 2016, up from RO 0.721 million a year earlier.
Conrad Prabhu
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