As infrastructural developments mark a steady growth in the country’s development, alongside the Duqm refinery and Dairy Farm, there are also concerted efforts to connect people with the country’s rich cultural heritage and architectural glory.
Phase 2 of OCEC
The fully integrated Oman Exhibition & Convention Centre (OCEC), which has become operational following the completion of Phase 1 – the Exhibition Centre, is all set to complete the Phase 2 by June this year.
Developed by Omran within Madinat al Irfan – a world-class, urban mixed-use development, OCEC is located only 4kms from Muscat International Airport. Phase one of the purpose-built Exhibition Centre opened its doors to visitors in October 2016. Since then the OCEC has hosted over 55 regional and international events, and has recently won the bid to host the World Cancer Congress in 2020.
Phase two of the project is the iconic Convention Centre which includes the multi-purpose state-of-the-art built-in auditorium with a capacity of 3,200 which is planned to be operational by June 2018. The Banquet Building, which includes two large ballrooms, a theatre of 450 seats, a number of meeting rooms and the central food-court, is currently in the final finishing stage; it is expected to be available for booking for events ahead of completion.
The OCEC precinct includes four hotels – two under construction and two in the planning phase; a future shopping mall and a commercial business park. The launch of the much-anticipated Crowne Plaza Hotel happened in November 2017, bringing over 296 hotel rooms to business and leisure travellers visiting the OCEC and Madinat al Irfan. The JW Marriott Hotel is set to be fully operational in June 2018, bringing a further 304 rooms to the destination.
Mazoon Dairy Farm
Mazoon Dairy Company has appointed Al Adrak Trading and Contracting as the main contractor for a $259.8m (OMR100m) dairy and juice manufacturing plant project in the Governorate of Al Buraimi. Construction works on the project is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2018.
Mazoon Dairy is the flagship dairy project of the sultanate, developed under its national food security initiative. It is supported by the Oman Food Investment Company, as well as government pension and investment funds.
The farm is expected to produce 202 million litres by 2026 and house 25,000 cows over a period of 10 years. According to the company, imports make up 69 percent of Oman’s supply of dairy products. The government is reportedly aiming to bring the number down to 10 percent by 2026.
The project includes interconnecting blocks made up of the main production building, plastic store building, administration-social building and a central utility building. The dairy farm is planned to house 25,000 Holstein-Friesian cows over a period of 10 years. The project also involves cow cooling systems and fully automated milking parlour.
The processing plant will produce fresh milk, laban, yoghurts, juices and ice cream of the highest quality which is based on the international standards of HACCP and ISO. The products will be marketed under a brand that reflects Oman’s cultural values and national pride.
By 2028, the farm will have the capacity to yield over 270 million litres of milk per annum, establishing Oman as a net exporter of dairy products in the next 20 years.
Royal Oman Police Hospital Complex
Royal Oman Police Hospital Complex, to be built in Muscat at the Airport heights area, is designed to accommodate 400 beds in the first phase – expandable to 600 beds in the future. The full-fledged hospital will provide medical care to the members of the Royal Oman Police and their families. The Hospital of 90,000 m2 built up area, will be built in one million meter square plot sharing staff accommodation buildings, and other hospital functional requirement facilities. The Hospital design is based on the unique concept called ‘Hospitals within the Hospital’ that stacks smaller sizes of specialised hospitals on top of each other, forming one general hospital.
The hospital campus will include orthopaedic units, diagnostic and treatment zones, ambulatory care, research and education facilities, a multi-story staff accommodation facility, residential units, substations, a sewerage treatment plant, a multi-storey car parking structure and related infrastructure.
445MW power plant
Oman-based Dhofar Generation Company (DGC) will start generating power from a new natural gas-fired 445MW plant (Salalah II) from January 2018.
A consortium consisting of Japan’s Mitsui & Co, Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, and Dhofar International Development and Investment Holding Company were awarded a contract to build a $630m (OMR242.5m) power plant in Salalah’s Raysut area in 2015. As part of the deal, the consortium has acquired Dhofar Generating Company, which owns and operates a 273MW gas-fired power plant at the adjacent site, from Electricity Holding Company (Nama Holding).
This will take the total power capacity of Dhofar Generating Company to 718MW once the new plant starts operation.
Electricity demand in the Dhofar region is projected to grow by 7 percent per annum for the next seven years, from an average of 348MW in 2016 to 559MW in 2023, the report added.
However, peak demand is expected to grow at about 6 percent per year, from 497MW in 2016 to 765MW in 2023, according to a Seven-Year Outlook Report released by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).
Duqm Oil Refinery
Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC is a Joint Venture (JV) between Oman Oil Company (OOC) and Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI). Once the refinery is completed, it will have the capacity to process around 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Diesel, jet fuel, naphtha and LPG are to be its primary products.
Duqm Refinery will be one of the growth engines for the special economic zone. It will provide development opportunities for new projects that will directly and indirectly interface with the refinery. These projects will look to benefit from the refinery’s products as well as provide different logistic services to the refinery.