VOICES FROM THE SECTOR: GREEN ECONOMY
How is privatization shaping the waste management industry?
After deploying six projects, with another three remaining, the industry has gained a great deal of experience, with the scope of activities having entirely evolved. Although municipalities did a good job, infrastructure was inadequate, and local municipalities did not always have the capacity to mobilize large landfills. be'ah consolidated over 300 dumpsites, transferring the waste to a small number of engineered landfills. This had an immense positive impact on the environment, surrounding areas, and general level of services, all while following industry standards. Today, be'ah has the capability to efficiently manage waste with solid infrastructure that uses state-of-the-art technology, data, resources, and knowledge provided by international players such as Averda.
What role can PPPs play in the industry's future?
Public bodies in Oman are leading the sector toward a brighter future—the client, the legislator, and the contracting authorities all at the same time. be'ah has the monitoring tools, project delivery engine, and business development resources necessary to move this industry forward. There is a significant amount of learning for every contractor working with us. This learning, combined with the knowledge that be'ah is accumulating, continuously raises the bar of the waste industry in Oman.
What kinds of companies and organizations do you work with in Oman?
We work with every company related to water and wastewater, both public and private, as well as many in the electricity sector. As an NGO, we are a non-political and non-biased organization; anyone working in the sector can come to us, and people feel free to come to our events and express their concerns. In February 2018, for example, we organized a meeting on desalinization units for agriculture. This brought together companies in the public and private sectors, as well as farmers themselves. We discussed the main issues and challenges we are facing, and many people were able to exchange contact information for future collaboration.
What role do you play in setting industry standards?
These are an important part of what we do and setting them is the primary goal of our events. To communicate which standards are set, we sit on many governmental committees, including Vision 2040. Many of these committees are involved in writing regulations and legislation, so when we see something that is needed, we write a proposal to the government, usually to do with how to save water or electricity. We are making sure standards are met and that governance is understood so that we can achieve certain benchmarks as an industry.
How will MPES be integrated with Oman's revamped water treatment network?
We are primarily involved in operation and maintenance of sewage treatment plants. We recently won a five-year O&M contract from Haya Water, which is our current focus. It is a long-term contract, for which our strategy is to provide the best price, quality, and safety. We are entrusted with treating and producing quality water and are paid on the basis of how much we do. We also have in-house capabilities to design, erect, and commission new STPs, projects that we have been doing for the past five years.
What strategies is the industry using to reuse a higher percentage of treated wastewater?
Haya Water is proposing several new projects and strategies to utilize 100% of wastewater and is building a network for maximum utilization. Currently, we utilize about 30% of the treated water produced for irrigation, landscaping, and washing, and want to increase that number to 70% in the next two years for things like air conditioning and cooling towers. By laying a pipeline, we will also supply treated water to homes for gardening, cleaning, and toilets. Zero waste is the concept, and Haya is developing ways to reach that goal right now.
How has Majis' business evolved as SOHAR Port and Freezone have grown?
In terms of the port sector, our clients are a combination of heavy, medium, and light industry. We also serve the hydrocarbon, metal, plastic, chemicals, fertilizers, utilities, logistics, and food sectors. Sohar Industrial Port Company wants the port and free zone to grow, while the number of customers is increasing and demand for water is growing. Demand for water can vary; the demand for cooling purposes grows by around 3% every year, while potable water increases by roughly 5% and that for processed water by 7%.
What do international partnerships represent for Majis?
Partnerships are extremely important in transferring know-how and sharing technology. For any business, there are three dimensions: the technological and commercial points of view and the framework. International partners and those with years of experience know how to deal with the spectrum of customers, manage investments, and build up proposals. There is a tremendous amount of know-how in all of that. The value of both parties will increase, especially for other companies entering the GCC through us.
Is your Miraah expansion determined by Petroleum Development Oman's (PDO) production?
Since GlassPoint and PDO have a strong relationship, we are able to match and pace our construction activities accordingly. We kicked off the running of our first four blocks at the end of 2017, and Miraah has since been in daily operations meeting or exceeding all performance targets set by PDO. Steam production will gradually ramp up to meet PDO's increasing demand. Another eight blocks, delivering 200MWt, are set to be brought online in 2019, bringing daily production capacity to 2,000 tons of steam per day.
Why is your technology effective for the industry? How are new technologies tested?
Oman has a leading position in EOR globally. Therefore, the Ministry of Oil and Gas and our partners at PDO have given us the opportunity to successfully test our technology and scale it in the shape of Miraah. Our partnership with PDO began over seven years ago. After a successful pilot program, we began building Miraah, which will be one of the world's largest solar plants. The first 100MWt of Miraah began operating in 2017 and is meeting all performance targets. An additional 200MWt will come on stream by next year. Unlike typical solar panels, which generate electricity, ours generate steam.
How is BAUER Nimr LLC involved in the oil and gas industry in Oman?
The company's main business activity is water treatment for the oil and gas industry. For every barrel of oil abstracted, approximately 10 barrels of produced water are generated, which we treat using constructed wetlands. Commencing our Oman business activities in 2009, we developed and currently own and operate the Nimr Water Treatment Plant (NWTP) for PDO. The facility has gradually expanded, and the third development phase is scheduled to be completed by June 2019. At present, we treat 115,000 cubic meters of produced water per day, but the new extension allows us to treat 175,000 cubic meters.
What technologies and knowledge do you provide for PDO?
We originally designed the system to be a zero-liquid-discharge system, meaning we had the full responsibility of dealing with the water. Water is a significant challenge for PDO and other oil companies, and BAUER provides an excellent solution. Companies recognize the value that contractors such as BAUER can add by taking full responsibility for managing the water in their concessions. During the past nine years, there has been a considerable shift in the way produced water is managed. We have seen a paradigm shift from viewing produced water as waste to acknowledging it as a valuable resource. We are interested in taking the water we treat and transforming it into a resource that has added value for Oman.
How does digitization benefit companies?
A great deal of digitization goes along the lines of energy efficiency, with the goal of achieving the same performance using fewer resources. Siemens is able to retrieve data and use it to maximize its efficiency of operations, such as by operating equipment at optimal speed, frequency, or temperature at any point in time. Another major benefit is predictive maintenance. Siemens has deep expertise in getting data from multiple sensors and understanding how equipment has behaved in the past, so we are able to better identify when something will fail in the future, and, hopefully, intervene before that occurs. On the communication side, we also try to enhance efficiency. By maximizing communication between both workers and machines, we create smooth practices and efficient operations across a number of areas.
How does digitization impact different industries?
When we talk about energy efficiency, it is clear that industries that are more energy intensive, such as oil and gas, are the ones that can benefit the most in absolute terms from digital solutions. From the perspective of predicting failures, there are also differences: within the oil and gas sector, there are more sensitive operations in which accidents and failures are more likely to lead to dangerous situations.
How has Engie grown its operations in Oman?
ENGIE operates in 70 countries and has been operating in Oman since 1995. We have our head office in Dubai, and cover many areas in the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Turkey. In total, we have reached more than 3,500 MW of electricity generation and have three desalination plants in Oman, our latest one producing 295,000 cubic liters of water every day. Our initial projects include Sohar 1, Sohar 2, Barka 2, Barka 3, and Barka 4. For each project, we work with an O&M partner responsible for managing our assets in Oman, including power and desalination plants. Engie brings experts into the country with a real eye toward creating lasting change on the ground, but we also have a 72% Omanization rate.
What are the advantages of doing business in Oman?
We see Oman as a stable country to invest in and see a lot of opportunities for moving into new businesses. Oman always serves as an example for the rest of the region, and the country is a leader in investment, technology, and development in the desalination and power generation space. There are plans for almost 1.5GW in generation capacity, which will be an excellent step forward for Oman.
VOICES FROM THE SECTOR: GREEN ECONOMY
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Interview
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