Despite being the largest exporter of natural gas in the world, Qatar is turning to the production of electricity from solar energy, as part of a plan to expand towards renewable energy;
By signing the construction of two huge solar photovoltaic plants in Mesaieed Industrial City and Ras Laffan Industrial City.
It is expected that electricity production from the two plants will start by the end of 2024, and the energy generated from the project will be distributed strategically between the two cities. The generation capacity of electric power in Mesaieed is 417 MW, while in Ras Laffan it is 458 MW.
The two plants will be built on land with a total area of 10 square kilometers. The project of solar power plants in the industrial cities, worth 2.3 billion Qatari riyals (one dollar equals 3.65 riyals), will reduce direct emissions by more than 28 million tons of carbon dioxide over the course of the year. Project life.
The production of the two plants will contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from Qatar Energy's facilities in the industrial cities of Mesaieed and Ras Laffan, especially projects to expand the production of liquefied natural gas from the North Field.
Qatar Energy awards engineering, procurement and construction contract for the solar energy project in its industrial cities.
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— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) August 23, 2022
big station
Qatar is expected to open this year the Al-Kharsa’a Grand Solar Power Plant, which is the largest in the region, with a total capacity of about 800 megawatts. The plant is located on an area of 10 km, and at a total cost of about 1.7 billion Qatari riyals. 10% of the peak electricity demand in the country.
Commenting on the project, the Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Engineer Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi, stressed that the project of solar power plants in the industrial cities is a major step in implementing a strategy to diversify energy resources in the State of Qatar, and increase reliance on highly efficient renewable energy, which is the cornerstone for a sustainable future.
He explained that the project confirms Qatar's commitment to implementing the Qatar Energy Strategy for Sustainability, and achieving the medium-term goal of generating 5 gigawatts of solar energy by 2035.
This is the second solar energy project in Qatar, and in addition to the Al-Kharsaah plant, the project of solar power plants in the industrial cities will contribute to increasing the capacity of renewable energy generation in Qatar to 1,675 gigawatts by 2024.
↙️ Al-Kharsa'a solar power plant is ready for operation
💠 Experts for Al Sharq: New projects meet the increased demand for electricity
💠 Qatar is among the region's most focused on renewable energy https://t.co/mqX1DyH8iq
- Al Sharq Newspaper - Qatar (@alsharq_portal) April 12, 2022
High efficiency
The project will use high-efficiency bi-facial panels installed on single-axis trackers, in addition to cleaning robots that will operate daily in order to reduce generation losses due to pollution, by removing dust from photovoltaic units, and thus increase the additional energy productivity produced by the two units. the face.
Economist Abdul Rahim Al-Hour believes that the future will turn to renewable energy, supported by a number of reasons, the most important of which are: climate change and global warming, which imposed significant restrictions on the fossil energy industry, whether in quantities, prices, operating technology, or even in terms of consumption.
Al-Hour believes that the world is facing the challenge of alternative energy (communication sites)
Alternative Energy Challenge
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Hour referred to the great transformation, for example, towards electric cars in the past few years, and said, "In any case, this transformation puts all energy-producing and energy-consuming countries alike before the challenge of alternative energy, and Qatar is moving at great, calculated, economic and investment feasibility steps. and productivity in this field.
He added that investing in two electric power plants in Qatar is a proactive and highly efficient step at this time, for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that these two plants depend on commercial operational capabilities that are neither experimental nor experimental, which makes them a real competitor for fossil energy.
He explained that the availability of strong sunlight throughout the year will make it very feasible to switch to solar energy in the short term, at a time when Qatari gas will continue to be produced and sold to regions and countries that need it, "of course within the balances of global production, and taking into account international trends in preserving the climate." ".