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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.

 

 

  


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