In August 2018, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Oman Power and Water Procurement was seeking to prequalify developers for two new privately financed desalination plants in the Al Batinah region on the Gulf of Oman. Its qualification request concerned 150,000 m³/day in North Al Batinah plus 100,000 m³/day in Barka. Documents were available until 16 August, with submissions due by 16 September 2018.
The report showed that Oman continued to rely on private developers on the Batinah coast, preparing two schemes with a combined 250,000 m³/day at the same time.