UPDATE - Marubeni, Total to build 800-MWp solar park in Qatar

Japan’s Marubeni Corporation (TYO:8002) and French energy major Total SA (EPA:FP) will help build an 800-MWp solar park in Qatar, planned to be fully operational in 2022.

A consortium formed by the two companies was successful in Qatar’s first solar tender. It awarded the design, construction, financing and operation of the USD-500-million (EUR 450m) independent power project (IPP) project.

Marubeni and Total will hold stakes of 20.4% and 19.6%, respectively, in Siraj 1 SPV, the company that will develop and operate the Al Kharsaah Solar PV IPP Project. Siraj Energy, a 40/60 joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC), will own the remaining 60% in the project.

Marubeni said this morning that the power purchase agreement (PPA) for the photovoltaic (PV) farm’s output has been executed with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa). As previously announced, it will have a term of 25 years. The Japanese company also said that project financing is being arranged.

According to a press release by Total, Al Kharsaah will start feeding power to the grid in 2021 with an initial capacity of 350 MWp. The park’s Commercial Operation Date (COD) is planned for April 2022.

This will be the first large-scale solar PV project in Qatar. It will use 2 million bifacial PV modules with trackers and will cover over 1,000 hectares of land roughly 80 km west of Doha. Over its life, it is expected to avoid 26 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

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