Nama Electricity Distribution sets $1.6bn Oman grid plan for 2026-2029

Muscat, Oman - Nama Electricity Distribution plans to spend more than $1.6 billion (OMR 600 million) from 2026 to 2029 on expanding and reinforcing Oman’s electricity distribution networks, upgrading infrastructure and moving to a smart, data-led grid.

The programme targets a more reliable network, more efficient operations and infrastructure ready for future growth in power demand. It will also widen the company’s use of digital tools, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics.

According to the company, the next stage of its development goes past digitising the network. The aim now is to get the most value out of the data it collects, using it to improve services and network management and give subscribers a better experience.

Khalfan Nasser Al Bartamani, Chief Commercial Officer at Nama Electricity Distribution, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the company is joining up five sets of tools: its smart meters, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS), and the technologies used to sense and control the network.

Linking these systems is expected to allow the network to be watched in real time, with faults found sooner, emergency crews responding faster and power restored in less time.

Nama is also widening its use of big data, advanced analytics and AI to build applications that track the condition and performance of its network assets. These tools are meant for predictive maintenance, so that likely faults are spotted earlier and maintenance work is directed with greater accuracy.

Al Bartamani said subscribers would benefit too, through quicker replies to reports, better handling of outages and closer coordination between operational teams.

An outage management system is already in place, connecting Nama’s call centre to its emergency teams. It draws on real-time monitoring, operational data and GIS to pinpoint faults and speed up the response when supply is cut.

Alongside the digital work, the company will keep building substations and distribution networks, improve how it manages its assets and support the connection of renewable energy. Promoting local value addition and developing national skills are also part of the wider modernisation programme.

Nama runs, maintains and develops a distribution network of more than 105,000 kilometres across the governorates it covers, which is every governorate except Dhofar. On its website, the company describes itself as the sole licensee of the Electricity Regulatory Authority for electricity distribution in those governorates.

It has approximately 1.4 million subscribers, and its electricity service reaches 100% of populated areas within its operating area.

Work in recent years has covered expanding and reinforcing networks at several voltage levels, building and upgrading substations and connecting new subscribers, together with digital transformation and automation projects.

In 2025, capital expenditure up to the end of October came to approximately $312 million (OMR 120 million). Around $159 million (OMR 61 million) of that went on 11-kilovolt (kV) network projects, and approximately $49 million (OMR 19 million) on 33kV projects.

Spending in that period went mainly on enlarging and strengthening the network, automation, systems for monitoring and controlling it remotely, and new outage management capability in several governorates.

The 2026-2029 plan is expected to build on that work, adding network capacity and readiness while keeping pace with economic growth and higher electricity demand.

Smart meters are still the core of Nama’s move to digital operations. The roll-out had reached approximately 80% by the end of 2025, which the company said has made consumption data more accurate and supported better load management and operational planning.

In Al Bartamani’s view, a smart meter does more than log consumption: he called the meters essential digital infrastructure, on which Nama builds new services and lifts the network’s performance.

The company is connecting its smart meters to GIS, SCADA, ADMS and other operational systems, with the goal of a more connected and efficient distribution network.

In 2025, Nama also finished its Automatic Load Transfer System project between transformers, reaching 100% completion. When a transformer fails, the system brings supply back automatically, which helps reliability and shortens outages.

Fault-location systems and remote-control units are also being tied into SCADA, to identify faults more quickly, speed up restoration and raise subscriber satisfaction.

Nama reported a measurable improvement in reliability in 2025: the average outage lasted approximately 177 minutes, and subscribers saw around two interruptions each on average.

The company said its continuing digitalisation and infrastructure spending is intended to improve those figures further, through quicker fault detection, better-targeted maintenance and tighter control of the network.

Nama ties the work to Oman Vision 2040, and especially to the national plan’s aims on infrastructure, digital transformation, operational efficiency and a more diversified economy.

By pairing infrastructure investment with smart-grid technology, renewable energy integration and development of the national workforce, Nama said it aims to build a more flexible, reliable and efficient distribution system that can meet Oman’s future energy needs and improve services for its 1.4 million subscribers.