According to The Gulf Times, construction work on a 200 MW solar power project will commence in June 2017 and is expected to be fully operational by 2020. The project may also be expanded to a capacity of 500 MW.
The project will be developed by Siraj Power, a joint venture of Qatar Electricity and Water Company and Qatar Petroleum. Siraj Power, which has a capital base of $500 million, is owned 60 percent by QEWC while Qatar Petroleum owns the 40 percent balance.
HE the Minister for Energy and Industry, Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, told The Gulf Times that Siraj Power would start generating solar energy from the project by April 30th 2020. A Memorandum of Understanding for setting up the company was signed between QEWC and Qatar Petroleum (QP) in December, 2015.
Qatar has already announced plans to set up 1,800 MW of solar power capacity by 2020, which is expected to contribute up to 16 percent of total power generation. The country has expressed its intention to hold auctions for solar power projects on multiple occasions, however, these intentions have not yielded any substantial results so far.
Under a long-term programme, Qatar plans to set up 10 GW of solar capacity by 2030. However, these plans are not listed under the country’s commitment to the United Nations through the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).
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