QatarEnergy announced awarding the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for its industrial cities’ solar power project (IC Solar), which includes two large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants in Mesaieed Industrial City (MIC) and Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC). The power plants are expected to start generating electricity by end of 2024.
The announcement was made at a special ceremony in Doha as the EPC contract was signed between QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions and Samsung C&T, which has been selected as the contractor to execute the project.
QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions is a wholly owned affiliate of QatarEnergy tasked with investing in renewable energy and sustainability projects and products within the State of Qatar and across the globe. Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy President/CEO HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi witnessed the signing of the EPC contract. The event was also witnessed by Samsung C&T Corporation President and CEO Sechul Oh and other senior executives from the two companies.
According to HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the IC Solar project is a major step in the implementation of the country’s strategy to diversify Qatar’s energy resources and increase the reliance on high-efficiency renewable energy, which is a cornerstone for a sustainable future. He said that it also reaffirms their commitment to delivering on QatarEnergy’s Sustainability Strategy and their mid-term target of having five GW of solar-generated power by 2035.
It also gives me great pleasure that this landmark project marks the first investment for our newly formed, wholly owned subsidiary, QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions, which will invest in and hold all our renewables and other sustainable initiatives going forward.
Power Regeneration Plants in Qatar
This is the second utility-scale solar project in Qatar. Along with Al Kharsaa Solar PV Power Plant, which is currently under construction, the IC Solar project will increase Qatar’s renewable energy generation capacity to 1.675 GW by 2024. The project will utilise high-efficiency bifacial modules mounted on single-axis trackers as well as cleaning robots that will operate daily to minimise losses due to soiling by removing dust from the PV modules. This will maximise the additional energy yield produced by the bifacial modules.
The project’s power generation capacity is strategically distributed between the two main industrial cities in Qatar – Mesaieed and Ras Laffan. MIC will have a 417 MW plant and RLIC will have a 458 MW plant. The two plants will occupy a combined area of ten square kilometres.
The approximately QAR2.3 billion IC Solar project will result in the direct emissions reduction of over 28 million tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime. The output of both plants will contribute to the reduction of QatarEnergy’s GHG footprints from its facilities in RLIC and MIC, most notable its NFE and NFS LNG expansion projects, in addition to expanding grid capacity in other locations.
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