Ghubrah 1 Power and Desalination
Thermal MSF + power, Retired March 2018. Seven MSF units of 22,750 to 27,000 m3/day each gave about 182,000 m3/day (40 MIGD) at peak; five units and 140,000 m3/day (31 MIGD) remained under contract in 2016 in Oman.
Out of service
Landmark Oman's first desalination plant, in service from 1976 until the last of its units was retired in 2018.
The record
- Country
- Oman
- Location
- Muscat
- Coordinates
- 23.603, 58.414
- Technology
- Thermal MSF + power
- Capacity
- Retired March 2018. Seven MSF units of 22,750 to 27,000 m3/day each gave about 182,000 m3/day (40 MIGD) at peak; five units and 140,000 m3/day (31 MIGD) remained under contract in 2016
- Capital cost
- —
- Stage
- Out of service
- Owner or client
- Al Ghubrah Power and Desalination Company (GPDC), a government company within the Electricity Holding Company, later Nama Group; offtaker Oman Power and Water Procurement under a PWPA
- Contractor
- —
- Operator
- Al Ghubrah Power and Desalination Company
- Finance
- State owned, power and water purchase agreement with OPWP
- Award or start year
- 1976
- Commissioned
- 1976
Record last checked 2026-09-18.
History
- 1976
First MSF units commissioned at Al Ghubrah, the start of Omani seawater desalination
- 1999
Seventh and last MSF unit installed
- 2011
Unit 1 decommissioned early, units 3 and 4 upgraded to recover 5,000 m3/day
- 2013
Unit 2 scheduled to leave the PWPA after the summer peak
- 2016
Five units and 140,000 m3/day still contracted
- 2018-03
PWPA expires and all desalination units retired
Sources
5 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- Oxford Business Group, Water projects are on the rise and legal changes permit further growth (Oman 2015 report). oxfordbusinessgroup.com.
- Al Ghubrah Power and Seawater Desalination Plant commissioned 1976, seven MSF units installed between 1976 and 1999 of 22,750 to 27,000 m3/day each, owned and operated by government under the Electricity Holding Company.
- OPWP, 7-Year Statement 2012-2018. omanpwp.om.
- Seven MSF units of about 182,000 m3/day (40 MIGD) total net capacity; unit 1 decommissioned prematurely in 2011, unit 2 scheduled for decommissioning after the 2013 summer peak, all remaining units to fall out of contract in March 2018. OPWP, 7-Year Statement 2016-2022 (Issue 10). omanpwp.om.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
Five MSF units with a current capacity of 140,000 m3/d (31 MIGD), PWPA expires March 2018 and all desalination units expected to be decommissioned at that time. Location from OpenStreetMap, node named Ghubrah Power & Desalination Plant.