Energy and Utilities
Oman’s energy and utilities sector is undergoing a period of significant transformation. Alongside the restructuring of the conventional power industry and the expansion of national water capacity, the Government of Oman is driving a major shift towards renewable energy, with solar and wind playing an increasingly central role in the country’s long-term energy strategy.
AMJ’s Energy and Utilities team acts for clients across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States on complex, large-scale projects and transactions across Oman’s power, water, and oil and gas industries. We advise financial institutions and multilateral lenders, project developers, government and state-owned entities, contractors and service providers on the procurement, development, financing, operation, privatisation and restructuring of IPP (Independent Power Projects), IWP (Independent Water Projects) and IWPP (Independent Water and Power Projects).
Our lawyers have a deep level of industry knowledge built over decades of advising on the majority of IPPs, IWPs and IWPPs developed in Oman under the public–private partnership model that the Sultanate pioneered in the region. Many of these projects represent regional “firsts”, including Al Manah IPP, the first IPP in the Middle East (1996), and Barka 1, Oman’s first IWPP. Our expertise spans commercial bank and ECA-led financings, public share offerings in power and water companies, acquisitions and disposals, power purchase agreements, fuel supply contracts, and transmission and distribution arrangements, together with construction, engineering and O&M agreements, environmental law and dispute resolution.
We have advised successful bidders on the development, financing, design, engineering, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of major projects including Barka Sohar IWPs, and advised lenders on Ibri III IPP, Barka 5 IWP, Ghubrah 3 IWP, Sohar IWP, Sharqiyah IWP, Salalah IWP, Ibri Sohar IPP, Qurayyat IWP, Salalah II IPP, Sur IWP – Expansion, and the refinancing of Barka 1 and Barka 2 IWP. We also advise Musandam Power Company, operator of the only permanent natural-gas-fuelled power plant serving the Musandam region.
In Oman’s renewables sector, AMJ advised the successful bidders and their lenders on the Sultanate’s first solar IPP, the 100 MW Amin Project. We have also acted for international consortia on the 500 MW Ibri Solar PV Project, and advised the state-owned Rural Areas Electricity Company on the development, design, engineering, construction and operation of a 50 MW wind power plant developed jointly with Masdar of Abu Dhabi. Recent work also includes advising the Government of Oman on the restructuring of its electricity-sector holdings, the privatisation of transmission and distribution companies, and international consortia bidding on the 1,000 MW Manah Solar IPPs.