Masdar, the Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy company, signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with a group of companies that include GE and Spain TSK to build a wind farm in Oman, the first large scale project of its kind in the Gulf.
“Oman has immense untapped potential in renewable energy, particularly in solar and wind. Masdar is proud to be supporting the historically close ties between the UAE and the Sultanate by providing our experience and expertise from delivering cutting-edge renewable energy solutions across the world," said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.
The company did not disclose the financial details of the 50 megawatt Dhofar Wind Power Project, which will power 16,000 homes and counterbalance 110,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
"The Dhofar Wind Power Project will play an important role in supporting the diversification of Oman’s energy mix, while providing a reliable source of clean power to serve its growing population and economy.”
The project was established in 2014 between Masdar and the Rural Areas Electricity Company of Oman. Funding is being provided by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. GE is leading the engineering, procurement and construction consortium, providing 13 wind turbines.
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Thousands of foreign workers in Oman not paid for months
Oman's dollar peg under pressure as weak oil prices hit state finances
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Oman's economy has felt the pinch of a three year oil glut. A halving of crude prices since 2014 left the sultanate with a budget gap of almost 22 percent of economic output in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund. The country posted a deficit of 2 billion rials ($5.2 billion) in the first five months of the year, compared with 2.5b rials in the year- earlier period.
Oman is planning to raise about $2b through debt sales this year as the largest Arab oil producer outside OPEC seeks ways to plug next year’s budget deficit, Bloomberg News reported earlier this month, citing people with knowledge of the plans.
The Ministry of Finance is speaking to banks and is evaluating bond and loan proposals, the news agency cited the people as saying without identifying them. No formal request for a proposal has been made, they said.
Moody’s Investors Services recently cut the rating of the sultanate to the second-lowest investment grade, saying Oman’s progress toward addressing structural vulnerabilities to a weak oil price environment has been more limited than expected. Oman has a sub-investment grade status at S&P Global Ratings.
*with Bloomberg
Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff
By Sean Penn
Simon & Schuster
Left Bank: Art, Passion and Rebirth of Paris 1940-1950
Agnes Poirer, Bloomsbury
Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Federer's 11 Wimbledon finals
2003 Beat Mark Philippoussis
2004 Beat Andy Roddick
2005 Beat Andy Roddick
2006 Beat Rafael Nadal
2007 Beat Rafael Nadal
2008 Lost to Rafael Nadal
2009 Beat Andy Roddick
2012 Beat Andy Murray
2014 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2015 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2017 Beat Marin Cilic
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
