Oman’s high voltage grid developer, Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), has received approval for a pipeline of 32 transmission projects planned over the next five years (2023–27), which include grid stations, overhead transmission lines and 400 kV interconnectors, planned across the main interconnected system (MIS) and the Dhofar system in Oman’s northern and southern halves.
The projects will increase the transmission system’s capacity to meet the growing demand and connect new generation, new rural areas, and meet the transmission security standard criteria. It is noted that majority of these transmission projects are linked to an array of upcoming solar PV and wind-based independent power projects. Several renewables-based projects are due to come up in remote, yet solar and wind resource-rich parts of the country, requiring investments in transmission systems to connect them to the grid. The flagship transmission project of OETC is the ongoing North-South Interconnector Project (Rabt). Its first phase, connecting the MIS with Duqm, is due to be completed in June 2023; while the second phase, connecting Duqm to the Dhofar System, will create a unified national grid by 2027.