TotalEnergies and Veolia have signed an agreement to start the construction of a 17MWp solar project that will provide power for a desalination plant in the city of Sur, Oman.
The solar project is expected to supply 30GWh of green electricity, or more than a third of the desalination plant’s daily consumption, enabling it to avoid close to 300,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The plant will be equipped with more than 32,000 high-efficiency solar panels and will use an East-West tracker system to increase energy production.
It will cover an area of 130,000 square metres, equivalent to approximately 18 football pitches.
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 Sharqiyah region.
The move is in line with Oman’s National Energy Strategy to convert 30% of its electricity use to renewable sources by 2030.
Veolia chief executive officer Estelle Brachlianoff said: “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.
“As one of the key players of Oman’s water sector, Veolia is fully committed to supporting Oman’s Vision 2040 sustainability objectives for the Sultanate’s communities and industries and our solar project with TotalEnergies goes in this direction.”
TotalEnergies senior vice president for renewables Vincent Stoquart said: “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.
“We are committed to helping Veolia decarbonize 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.”
Veolia is deploying solutions to optimize the energy efficiency of its desalination activities, including its Sharqiyah Desalination plant.
The Group, in partnership with TotalEnergies, has decided to take a further step towards green transformation by using renewable energy to power the plant instead of fossil fuels.