Qatar General
Electricity & Water Corporation ‘Kahramaa’ and Siraj Power Sign
‘Kharsaah Grand Solar Power Station’ Agreements
19 January 2020
Under the
patronage of HE Sheik Abdulla Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime
Minister and Minister of State for Internal Affairs and with the
attendance of HE Eng. Saad Bin Sherida Al Kaabi, State Minister for
Power Affairs, President and Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum, the
agreements pertaining to Grand Al Kharsaah Station for production of
electricity through Photovoltaic technology has been signed today.
According to
the newly signed agreement, Qatar Electricity and Water Corporation
‘Kahramaa’, the owner and operator of the electricity and water network
systems in the State of Qatar, will buy the electricity power to be
produced from the project while Siraj1 Company, a joint-venture owned by
Siraj Electricity (60%) and the consortium of the Japan’s Marubeni and
France’s Total (40%) on the basis of Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT)
basis for a term of twenty
five years.
The
agreements were signed by HE
Eng. Issa Bin Hilal Al Kawari, Kahramaa President, Mr. Fahad Bin Hamad
Al Muhannadi, Kahramaa General Manager & Managing Director and Board
Member of Siraj Power on behalf of Kahramaa and Siraj Power, and Mr.
Masumi Kakinoki, Managing Director & CEO of Japan’s Marubeni, and Mr.
Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of France’s Total.
A signing ceremony was held on this occasion and has been
attended by a number of VIPs, Government Officials, expertise in field
of power and renewable power, diplomatic missions members and officials
from the contracting parties.
The project will be constructed on
10sq kilometers Al Kharsaah area, west Doha, at a total cost of QAR 1.7
billion.
On this occasion, HE Eng. Saad Bin
Sherida Al Kaabi, State Minister for Power Affairs, President and
Managing Director of Qatar Petroleum said “the construction of this
station comes in implementation of the State of Qatar’s policies for the
diversification of power production resources and the increase of
relying on the renewable power and boost its efficiency which is
considered a major milestone to a sustainable future for the coming
generations”.
HE Al Kaabi
added “this station is first of its kind in the State of Qatar with a
total production capacity of 800 Mega Watt which constitutes
approximately 10% of the peak demand on electricity in Qatar. The
project also comes within the continuation of our efforts to maintain
the power and environment while guaranteeing the balance between the
benefits of the existing generation and the coming generations and in
line with Qatar Vision 2030”
“This
project also reflects the Power Sector’s fulfilment of the Government’s
obligations to World Cup 2022 as it is intended to generate eight times
of the solar power being government’s obligation in this connection. The
project will also assist in guaranteeing the neutralism of Carbon” HE Al
Kaabi Said.
On his part, HE Eng. Essa Bin Hilal Al
Kawari, Kahramaa President said “with the notable progress in
manufacturing the solar panels, increased efficiency and lowered prices
and after studying the quantities of the natural gas that could be
secured and the reduction taking place in the emissions as a result of
the production of the solar power, Kahramaa has coordinated with the
concerned parties to commence constructing a mega solar power project to
produce electricity from solar photovoltaic cells”. He added “ Kaharamaa
has launched the tender and attracted highly qualified and experienced
companies in field of developing solar power projects. The company has
further shortlisted 16 global developer and assessed the technical and
financial offers. The company has ultimately succeeded to obtain a
competitive price which considered globally the lowest for similar
projects”.
Mr. Fahad
Hamad Al Muhannadi, General Manager and Managing Director of Qatar
Electricity and Water Company, member of the Board of Directors of Siraj
Energy Company, stated “The major solar power plant in Khorsa is an
achievement in the region. The sun, in addition to the use of robots in
the process of continuous cleaning of solar panels to ensure continuous
production efficiency and reduce the operating cost of the plant and
other technologies, and this achievement in the field of renewable
energy comes in the context of the permanent leadership of Kahramaa"
"I express
my great appreciation to Kahramaa for their confidence in Marubeni for
the implementation of the major solar power plant in Kherson," said
Masume Kakinoki, Managing Director, CEO and Board Member of Marubeni
Corporation of Japan. "In the framework of promoting sustainable
development and facing climate change, Marubeni aims to reach a
carbonless society. We will make every effort to accelerate this
endeavor, as we aim to achieve a 20% increase in the share of energy
produced from renewable resources in our net energy supply by 2023." He
added, "We will work with every possible effort to make this project a
success, in a way that contributes to the revival of the State of Qatar
and achieving the Qatar Vision 2030."
In turn, Mr.
Patrick Bouyane, Chairman and CEO of the French company Total said: “We
are proud to participate in the implementation of the Khersa solar power
plant with Marubeni and Siraj Energy, and Total is committed to
providing better energy that is safer, more affordable, and cleaner in
environmental terms, and we aspire to expand our footprint. In renewable
energy to 25 GW by 2025. " "We support Qatar’s drive to develop
renewable energy according to the Qatar Vision 2030 and we will harness
the best of our expertise and technical knowledge to ensure the success
of this project," he added.
The total
capacity of the major solar power plant project is estimated at 800 MW,
and 350 MW will be linked with the grid as a first stage in the first
quarter of 2021, with the commercial operation of the total capacity
beginning in the first quarter of 2022 in order to achieve the strategic
goal announced in the National Development Strategy 2018-2022.
Through this
project, Kahramaa has succeeded in obtaining competitive prices for
energy production, reducing dependence on gas, and providing natural gas
used in traditional production, in addition to reducing emissions and
improving the surrounding environment, as the station contributes to
reducing about 26 million tons of emissions throughout a period The
project, which is in line with one of the objectives of the national
program for the rationalization and energy efficiency "rationalization"
of reducing at least one million tons of emissions annually until 2022.
It is worth
mentioning that Kahramaa has launched a tender on an earlier time to
construct the first mega solar power station to produce electricity from
the photovoltaic cells technology in the State of Qatar. The tender
attracted several major global corporation in this field where the
company has shortlisted 16 ones and received competitive offers from
five consortium and global companies which is considered over offered
tender for similar project. This is considered an indicator of the
strength and the attractiveness of the Qatari market and the concern of
the international developers to carry out projects in Qatar. The company
has granted that project to a consortium of consultants led by Ernst &
Young, DLA Piper and Boeri Swizerland.