Oman targets completion of Direct Power Sales Framework by year-end

Oman targets completion of Direct Power Sales Framework by year-end

MUSCAT: A keenly anticipated legal framework designed to enable eligible power generators to sell electricity directly to large customers will be completed before the end of this year, according to Oman’s Authority for Public Services Regulation (APSR).

The Direct Sales Framework – part of efforts to further liberalise the country’s power sector -- is key to accelerating the pace of international investment in Oman’s nascent renewables and green hydrogen industry. It will also support so-called ‘bilateral arrangements’ agreed directly between generators and major customers, bypassing the state-owned monopoly offtaker – the Oman Power and Water Procurement Co (OPWP) – which is currently the sole buyer of all electricity output under the sector law.

Work on a legal and regulatory framework underpinning this new initiative began last year following its green-lighting by the Council of Ministers.

Its actual implementation is envisaged in phases with the Authority planning to undertake a continual assessment of the project with a view to ensuring its “economic feasibility and fulfilment of the regulatory and technical requirements”.

According to the Authority, customers eligible for direct sales of wholesale electricity are typically large industrial customers. “In the first phase, the eligible participants include generators with expired PPA (Power Purchase Agreements) and industrial