Power system expansion planning of Oman in new restructured environment

The power sector of Oman is undergoing a metamorphosis with the formation of independent regulatory authority and vertically integrated sector unbundled into corporate entities. New institutional entities are being established and a healthy relationship between these institutions is presumed crucial to ensure a sustained development of the sector and to realize reform goals. Action plan of reform encourages comprehensive system expansion planning and ultimately formation of a countrywide integrated national grid. These planning goals require both technical analysis of different transmission system configuration and economic analysis of different transmission projects. Several opportunities also exist by interconnecting independent national systems of several GCC countries in near future. Primary objective of this paper is to highlight key issues associated with the electricity industry´s transition that affect and complicate transmission planning in Oman.