Qatar has signed an agreement with French energy giant Total and Japan’s Marubeni to build a solar power plant capable of producing 800 megawatts, a tenth of country’s peak energy demand, according to the country’s energy minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Al Kharsaah plant near the capital Doha comes at a cost of 1.7 billion riyals ($467m) and is expected to be complete by 2022 when the country hosts the FIFA World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today is the commencement of the project itself and we expected by the first quarter of 2021 to have half of the [plant’s] capacity up and running,” Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told a news briefing on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It will generate about eight times the size of the solar energy Qatar had pledged to build, helping the organisation of a carbon-neutral event,” al-Kaabi continued, referring to the 2022 tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qatar’s Siraj Energy, a joint venture owned by Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), will hold a 60 percent stake in the solar plant. The remaining 40 percent will be owned by both Marubeni and Total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marubeni will take 51 percent of the minority stake, while Total will have 49 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Pouyanne, Total’s chief executive, said the solar plant, once complete, will be the largest ever built by the French conglomerate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gulf states, heavily dependent on oil and gas, have invested tens of billions of dollars in clean energy projects, mainly in solar and nuclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But critics say many such projects are slow to get off the drawing board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said last week its first nuclear power plant would start operating within months after repeated delays to meet safety and regulatory conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UAE will have the first operational nuclear reactor in the Arab world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, has said it plans to build up to 16 nuclear reactors, but the projects have yet to materialise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics say the addiction to oil is hard to kick, particularly when supplies remain abundant and the high costs of investment in infrastructure needed to switch to renewables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From: https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/ajimpact\/qatar-build-solar-power-plant-200120061111553.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Qatar has signed an agreement with French energy giant Total and Japan’s Marubeni to build a solar power plant capable of producing 800 megawatts, a tenth of country’s peak energy demand, according to the country’s energy minister.  The Al Kharsaah plant near the capital Doha comes at a cost of 1.7 billion riyals ($467m) and…
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