Abunayyan resigns as chair of ACWA Power Barka

Mohammad Abdullah Abunayyan has resigned as chairman and board director of ACWA Power Barka in Oman, citing personal reasons.

A company release on the Muscat Securities Exchange on 7 August 2018 stated: “The board of directors and management team of the company acknowledges Abunayyan’s significant contributions during his term, and wishes him all the best in his endeavours.”

The news follows a release on 5 August about the impact of an algae bloom — the so-called “red tide” — off the Gulf of Oman, which hit the reverse osmosis (RO) expansion units at Barka 1 and 2, costing the company OMR 140,000 ($364,000).

The statement said: “During this algal bloom period, the pollutants level in the seawater elevated outside the technical limits as defined in the Water Purchase Agreements (WPAs) of the two RO expansion plants. The company and its operator are continuously monitoring these levels closely and have increased chemical dosing to the maximum in order to keep the two plants in partial operation until the seawater quality falls within the acceptable limits and full production is restored.”

The statement goes on to say that the incident is defined as “force majeure” in the respective WPAs, meaning that:

   * ACWA Power Barka will get relief from liability for any consequent failure to perform its obligations;

   * off-taker Oman Power and Water Procurement (OPWP) will not pay for water not delivered; and

   * the WPAs will be extended beyond their current end-date of 31 December 2021, for a period equal to the downtime.


Red tide threatens Barka desalination plant, Oman (February 2018)