TotalEnergies and Veolia to build Oman’s largest solar system for desalination plants

French energy and utility companies TotalEnergies and Veolia have signed an agreement to build a solar system to power a desalination plant in Oman’s Sur as part of the Gulf state’s new renewable energy projects.

The 17-megawatt peak (MWp) solar project will be the first of its kind to be installed in the region and produces annually over 30,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green electricity, or more than a third of the desalination plant's daily consumption, the companies said.

The power plant will be located on the site of the Sharqiyah Desalination plant, supplying drinking water to more than 600,000 inhabitants of the region, the companies said. The new system will enable the plant to avoid close to 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

“This project is in line with our strategy to develop renewable energy in the Middle East and provide our customers with clean, reliable and affordable energy solutions,” said Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President Renewables at TotalEnergies.

“We are committed to helping Veolia decarbonise its operations, building on our strong track record of deploying renewable energy solutions at highly technical and complex sites. As a global multi-energy company, our goal is to contribute to the development of renewables in Oman and its region,” Stoquart added.

The move is in line with Oman’s National Energy Strategy to convert 30% of its electricity use to renewable sources by 2030. The plant will be equipped with more than 32,000 high-efficiency solar panels and will use an innovative East-West tracker system to increase energy production, the companies said.

It will cover an area of 130,000 square meters, equivalent to approximately 18 football pitches.

“At Veolia, we are committed to bring the ecological transformation in the water sector for our clients and for our own assets. We’re happy to launch the construction of the solar plant on our desalination unit in the city of Sur, to be able to power it with the green electricity while drastically reducing its carbon footprint,” Estelle Brachlianoff, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia, said in a statement.