Oman is conducting feasibility studies to assess the potential for setting up wind parks in coastal areas of the Dhofar and Al Wusta governorates.

The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) launched the studies in Sadah in Dhofar governorate and Ras Madraka in Al Wusta governorate last November and the data on the ground will be collected for at least 1 year, the state-owned company said in its recently published annual report.

The considerations for the deployment of wind energy in these coastal areas come on top of the wind resource assessment of Duqm in Al Wusta and Jalaan Bani Bu Ali in South Al Sharqiyah governorate which has been completed.

In July, OPWP, which is the single off-taker for independent power producers across the sultanate, opened a tender for technical and economic consultancy services for the development of new wind power projects in the Arab nation.

The state-owned company aims to put about 2.66 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2027 across the country, including some 560 MW of wind. Those plans include 2 wind projects of a combined 360 MW in the region of Duqm, a 100 MW project in Jalaan Bani Bu Ali and another 100 MW scheme in Dhofar.

Currently, Oman has only one utility-scale wind park in operation the 49.4 MW Dhofar I Wind IPP in the south of the country.