The Sembcorp Salalah IWPP is a 445 Megawatt; 15 Million Imperial Gallons per Day (MIGD) combined cycle gas turbine power and water desalination plant located in the southern region of Salalah. It is currently under construction and is forecast to be completed by April 2012. The project has been developed on a Build, Own and Operate (BOO) model, and will play an important part in meeting demand in one of Oman’s key growth regions. The entire output of the project is contracted under a long term power and water purchase agreement with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).
“The Salalah IWPP is an important infrastructure asset for the Sultanate of Oman, and a strategic addition to our existing investment portfolio in the region. The current economic uncertainties have led to an increased focus on infrastructure investment which delivers stable cashflows to investors,” Suhail Hajee, Chief Executive Officer at Instrata Capital.
“The 2011 was a challenging year for investment in the region. With this backdrop we are very pleased to have closed the Sembcorp Salalah acquisition. Notwithstanding a challenging economic environment, demand for additional infrastructure projects remains constant driven by strong underlying fundamentals including population and GDP growth and we are confident that there will be significant opportunities for additional infrastructure investment in 2012 and beyond,” Khalid Alshakrani, Managing Director at Instrata Capital, said.
“At Instrata Capital, we are proud of our expertise and understanding of the infrastructure asset class which is demonstrated by our successful track record of investment in infrastructure projects,” Alshakrani, added.
Instrata Capital’s existing investment portfolio also includes two significant IWPP investments. In June 2009 Instrata Capital closed the acquisition of a stake in the Al Dur IWPP in Bahrain and in August 2010 Instrata Capital closed the acquisition of a stake in the Barka 1 IWPP in Oman.
Based on the success of Bunyah, Instrata Capital’s initial fund, and growing investor appetite for stable investments capable of attractive returns, Instrata Capital is considering launching a second GCC/MENA and Turkey focused fund following regulatory approval. This fund will also focus on infrastructure assets making use of Instrata Capital’s strong investment pipeline.