QatarEnergy, a Qatari state-owned petroleum company, has given a $630.33 million contract to South Korean engineering and construction firm Samsung C&T to build its industrial cities solar power project (IC Solar). The agreement is for the construction of two solar photovoltaic (PV) plants with an 875 MW total capacity for clean power generation.
Samsung C&T will be in charge of the engineering, procurement, and construction of the solar power facilities, which are expected to be operational by the end of 2024. In Mesaieed Industrial City and Ras Laffan Industrial City, respectively, the company will construct solar PV plants with capacities of 417 MW and 458 MW. QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions, a recently established totally owned company of QatarEnergy, has awarded this contract. By combining the IC Solar project with the currently under construction Al Kharsaa Solar PV Power Plant, Qatar’s renewable energy generation capacity will grow to 1.68 GW by 2024.
In October 2021, Qatar Energy and Shell agreed to pursue collaborative investments in blue and green hydrogen projects in the UK. The deal was signed on the sidelines of the UK Global Investment Summit. The partners would seek integrated and scalable opportunities in key sectors where hydrogen could help decarbonize, such as industrial cluster development and the transport sector, with a particular focus on the London metropolitan area.
REGlobal’s Views: Qatar, which is heavily dependent on oil and gas for meeting its energy requirements, has plans to reduce 25 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Thus, the country is expected to witness many such large solar power projects in the future.
