Qatar’s first large scale solar PV plant is connected to the grid
TotalEnergies announced that the Al Kharsaah solar power plant developed by TotalEnergies and its partners QatarEnergy, and Marubeni has been connected to the grid at full capacity.
The Al-Kharsaa project, located 80 km West of Doha, is the first large scale photovoltaic plant in Qatar with 800 MWp installed solar capacity.
The power plant has been developed and is operated by Siraj 1, which is jointly owned 40% by the Consortium formed by TotalEnergies (49%) and Marubeni (51%) and 60% by QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions. The project includes a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement between Siraj 1 and the power grid operator Kahramaa.
The plant was constructed on a 1000-hectare terrain, equivalent to approximately 1400 football pitches, and integrates 2 million high-efficiency LONGi Hi-MO 4 bifacial modules mounted on single-axis trackers. These panels, equipped with photovoltaic cells on the front and back, capture the sun’s direct rays on one side, and capture the rays reflected on the ground thanks to the other side, thus optimizing electricity production.
The Al Kharsaah plant will supply 10% of the country’s peak power consumption and will avoid 26 million tons of CO2 emissions during its lifetime, and it is expected to generate almost 2,000,000 MWh, the equivalent energy consumption of approximately 55,000 Qatari households during its first year of operation.
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies said:
“This giant project, which contributed to the sustainability roadmap of Qatar, demonstrates once again TotalEnergies’ ability to support producing countries in their energy transition by combining natural gas production and solar energy to meet the growing demand for electricity. This is another milestone in our long-standing and trustful relationship with QatarEnergy, also bringing us closer to our goal of 35 GW of production capacity by 2025”.
Jia Chao, President of LONGi’s MEA and CA region, commented:
“We are honoured to assist Qatar in developing this landmark project, and fully support the country’s commitment to carbon neutrality.”
Source: Press releases by TotalEnergies and LONGi.
