RIYADH: QatarEnergy, formerly known as Qatar Petroleum, will acquire a 49 percent stake in Qatar Electricity & Water Co.’s state-backed solar power entity Siraj Energy.
This transaction is set to result in Siraj Energy being absorbed within QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions, the state energy firm’s renewable investments arm.
QatarEnergy previously stated that QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions will handle all of the country’s renewables investments.
Siraj Energy has a 60 percent interest in Siraj 1, the project company that owns and will operate the 800MW Al-Kharsaah solar photovoltaic independent power project in Qatar.
The remaining 40 percent stake is owned by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France’s Total, the developer team, which won the contract in 2020 to develop the Al-Kharsaah solar IPP.
QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract to South Korea’s Samsung C&T for two solar PV plants with a total combined capacity of 875MW, in August.
One of the solar plants with a capacity of 458MW, will be located in Ras Laffan while the other plant will be located in Mesaieed with a capacity of 417MW.
Expected to complete by the end of 2024, the electricity generated by the two plants will be partly used for QatarEnergy’s liquefied natural gas production expansion.
The 2.3 billion qatari riyal ($632m) contract aligns with Qatar’s goal to generate up to 5,000MW of solar power by 2035.
Bids for the two contracts were submitted in March, MEED previously reported.