Qatar, one of the world’s largest producers of liquefied natural gas, today inaugurated its first solar power plant. It will be built in cooperation with the French company TotalEnergies and will cost about 475 million euros.
The Minister of Energy and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qatar Energy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said that the solar farm, which includes more than 1.8 million solar panels in Al-Kharsaa, west of Doha, covers an area of 10 square kilometers, making it “one of the largest farms in the region.”
With a capacity of 800 megawatts, the project, which began in 2016 and has been operational since June, aims to cover 10 percent of the country’s electricity consumption. By 2035, the park will be expanded a lot, it still seems.
According to the organizers of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, who promised a carbon-neutral tournament, this plant will supply electricity to football stadiums. However, Al-Kaabi stated that he had no information on this.
Compared to neighboring countries in the Gulf, Qatar lags far behind in terms of renewable energy. The United Arab Emirates has had solar power plants for nearly a decade, and Saudi Arabia is planning the world’s largest solar panel project. Qatar announced at the end of August that it was planning two more major solar projects.
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