The Barka independent water project in Oman reached commercial close on 3rd March 2016.
The project, located in the Barka in South Batinah governorate in Oman, comprises the design, construction, ownership, operation and maintenance of a reverse osmosis desalination facility with total output of 281,000m3 of potable water per day. It represents the largest desalination plant ever procured by the Oman Power and Water Procurement Co, the sole procurer of all new power generation and water desalination capacity in the sultanate.
The consortium for the RO 115 million (US$300 million) project, consisted of ITOUCHU Corporation, SUEZ, AIFA ENGIE (GDF SUEZ) and Towell Infrastructure. Debt funding was secured from SMBC, the bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Credit Agricole and KFW IPEX.
Operis carried out a model audit for the senior lenders and investors of the Barka IWP, which included a review of the tax and accounting treatments present in the model.
