Shell Oman helps in shift to renewables
MUSCAT: Oman is on the verge of a major shift to renewable energy as the government rolls out regulations and projects to harness the massive potential of wind and solar. In an interview with
Chris Breeze, Shell Oman Country Chairman, highlighted the potential in the Sultanate in renewables and Shell’s initiatives to accelerate the process.
“If you look at the developments over the last few years, the introduction of Sahim by AER could unlock rooftop solar for domestic and industrial use. Oman is potentially on the threshold of a major shift to renewables,” he said.
He was referring to Oman’s first renewable energy initiative that was launched by the Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER) earlier this year that allows residents to install solar rooftop panels while being connected to the grid. Such an installation can reduce load on electricity generation by conventional gas powered sources and allows excess energy to be sold back to the grid. Previously, connection to the grid was not facili- tated by AER. OPWP announced in its seven year statement recently that it plans tendering Oman’s first commercial scale solar PV power plant that should be operational by 2020 and have a capacity of at least 200MW.
“In terms of large scale solar or wind power, the Government has announced two solar tenders later this year or next year. What is clear is the scope for renewables in Oman is enormous,” he added.
Shell is working on large scale solar projects in Oman.