Sembcorp wins first greenfield renewables project in Middle East
Wong Pei Ting
SEMBCORP Industries has clinched a contract to build, own and operate a 500 megawatt (MW) solar power plant in Oman, through an 80 per cent-owned joint venture to be set up by its wholly-owned subsidiary Sembcorp Utilities with Jinko Power Technology.
In a bourse filing, Andy Koss, the chief executive officer of Sembcorp Industries’ UK & Middle East business, said the Manah Solar II Independent Power Project will mark Sembcorp’s first renewables project in the Middle East.
The project is backed by a 20-year power purchase agreement, and awarded by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company. It is expected to be operational by 2025.
Once it is up and running, the solar plant in Manah, a town in the northeastern part of the Middle Eastern country, will augment Sembcorp’s well-established presence in Oman’s power and water desalination sector, it added.
Sembcorp owns 40 per cent of the Salalah Independent Water and Power Plant, which it calls “one of the most energy-efficient power and water plants” in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman.
Sembcorp, meanwhile, said the project is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings per share, net asset value per share and leverage for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023.
The project is expected to be financed through a mix of internal cash resources and external bank borrowings, it stated.
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