Kahramaa to Call Bids for First Large-scale Solar Power Plant in Qatar

October 07, 2018

Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) will issue a public tender before year end for the construction of its first large-scale photovoltaic solar power plant.

Engineer Essa Hilal Al-Kuwari, the President of Kahramaa, announced during a press conference held at the Kahramaa main building, that the prequalification of 16 international Solar Power Developers has been completed, attracting major companies and conglomerates who are world leaders in the development of mega solar power plants.

Al-Kuwari said that the cost of the project will be determined by the competitors through the tender, but he expected the cost to amount to about QR2 billion, explaining that Kahramaa will not pay this sum, but rather buy electric power units over a period of 25 years at the lowest fee offered by the bidders.

Al-Kuwari added that the project comes in implementation of the higher directives of H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Amir of Qatar, to reduce dependence on oil and gas to achieve economic diversity, and in line with the economic and environmental development pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030.

He clarified that the plant will have a production capacity of at least 700 MW. As a first stage, 350 MW will be connected to the grid by 2020 in achievement of the strategic objective set in Qatar National Development Strategy 2018–2022.

Eng. Essa said that a land measuring 10kmsq located west of Doha near Al-Kharsaah area has been allocated for the construction of the solar power plant.

The project is structured as Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) for 25 years, where the ownership will be transferred to Kahramaa after the end of the term. Siraj Solar Energy participates in the project as a Strategic National Investor.

Al-Kuwari concluded that under this project it is expected to achieve competitive power prices, save natural gas used in traditional power generation, along with reducing carbon emissions and preserving the environment. It is one of the objectives of the national program for conservation and energy efficiency (Tarsheed) to reduce 7% of harmful carbon emissions in Qatar. Since it was launched by Kahramaa in 2012, Tarsheed managed to reduce 10.6 tons of emissions.