In November 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported, citing Zawya, that state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWPC) had asked developers to prequalify for a privately owned water project. The planned seawater desalination plant of 16,000 m³/day in Khasab, Musandam Governorate, in northern Oman, was meant to cut well abstraction, let the aquifer recover and start operating in 2019. At the time, a 450 m³/day plant in Kumzar, three PAEW plants totalling 3,500 m³/day and wells supplied the area.
The report showed Oman relying on private developers even for a small, remote supply area. The planned capacity was several times the desalination output then available in the region.