Manah-1 Solar Power Plant, Oman

Manah-1 is a solar photovoltaic (PV) independent power plant (IPP) being developed in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, Oman.

The 500MW project is being developed by a consortium of EDF Renewables and Korean Western Power (KOWEPO). Wadi Noor Solar Power company, a special purpose vehicle owned by the consortium, will own, operate and maintain the 500MW solar PV plant.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in September 2023.

The consortium reached the financial close on the Manah-1 project in December 2023. It is expected to start commercial operations in the first quarter of 2025.

Once operational, Manah-1 is estimated to power over 50,000 Omani households with green renewable electricity and offset more than 700,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

Manah-1 Power Plant Project Location

The Manah-1 solar PV IPP will be located in Oman’s Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, approximately 120km South of Muscat.

Overall, the site will encompass an area of around 775.33 hectares. Site elevation ranges between 340m and 350m above sea level.

Manah-1 and Manah Solar II are located adjacent to each other at a site in Manah.

Manah I Solar PV IPP Project development

The Manah-1 Solar PV IPP is designed as a greenfield solar PV plant with a maximum power export capacity of 500MWac. The output voltage from the Manah-1 power plant will be exported to the electrical transmission system via the 400 kV Manah switching grid station constructed by Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) near the project site.

The solar project will utilise bifacial N-Type modules installed on 1P single-axis trackers to generate clean energy.

The PV modules will be connected in series to form PV strings, which are subsequently connected to the string inverters.

The generated Direct current (DC) power will be converted to Alternating Current (AC) power through string inverters connected to Low Voltage/ Medium Voltage (LV/MV) transformers that will feed the 33kV internal grid.

The 33 kV AC power will be transformed into 400 kV using two HV transformers 33 kV/400 kV in the Manah Solar I IPP substation and exported to the Manah OETC substation with maximum auxiliary consumption of 1000kVA (Kilo-volt-amperes) via two 400 kV underground cables.

The PV IPP project will include approximately 1,043,911 PV modules, each with a CV capacity of 600–605-watt peak (Wp) leading to a total DC nameplate capacity of 630MWp at Standard Test Conditions (STC).

Each PV string will include 31-32 units of PV modules and 18 – 19 PV strings per inverter give a total of 33,670 PV strings.

Other electrical components include 1740 units inverters with rated capacity of 295kVA (50 degrees Celsius) capable of handling the total DC capacity of the PV arrays in the arrangement and with an AC capacity of 513.3Mva, 60 units ITS (Integrated Transformer Station) rated at 8.8MVA 0.80/33kV, twenty 33kV PV feeder groups with three ITS for each are laid along solar farm buoy channel into 33kV switchgears.

Manah-1 Power Purchasing Agreement

In March 2023, the consortium entered into a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), starting scheduled commercial operations date (SCOD) with Oman Water and Power Procurement Company SAOC (OPWP).

The consortium will be eligible to sell the green electricity under the spot market regime in Oman after the PPA expiry.

Financing

The stakeholders officially signed the financing agreements during COP28, leading to the financial close, achieved on the 25th of December 2023.

The project will be financed through equity and loan schemes from local and international financial institutions, including the Export-Import Bank of Korea, European Bank Société Générale and Oman Bank Muscat.

Contractor Involved

WNSPC selected Worley as the owner engineer for the Manah I Solar PV IPP.