In October 2018, Construction Week Online reported that a small fire had broken out at the Barka 2 desalination plant in Oman over the weekend, as operator SMN Power Holding confirmed. It started in the low-voltage switchgear room and damaged breakers serving the desalination unit, which then shut down. Nobody was hurt and no hazardous substances escaped; civil defence put the fire out with powder and carbon dioxide. In a filing with the Muscat bourse, SMN put the damage so far at OMR 200,000, about $520,000.
The report showed how localised damage to electrical switchgear could take an entire desalination plant offline, and how a listed operator disclosed the cost impact to the market.