Qatar Solar Energy
Qatar has been almost solely reliant on its vast gas reserves for power generation for many decades. A key pillar of the National Vision to achieve 20% non-gas energy by 2030 is energy diversification through investments in photovoltaic (PV) solar energy. Opportunities exist for U.S. companies that can supply products and services to support a ground-up photovoltaic operation.
In addition to the solar energy opportunity, are developments in power and water industries. Such business activities open numerous doors of opportunities for American companies to supply advanced products and services, technologies, renewable and alternative energy solutions, battery storage, PV cells.
With the growth of population and further expansion of industries, the government of Qatar develop a strategy for a country to grow more sustainable and efficient way of energy generation and proper conservation which became one of the fundamental aspects of their 2030 National Vision and shaped the prospect of the aspired carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup 2022. The energy mix campaign is spreading in various sustainable energy projects, part of this development is the 800MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant project which is under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model for a period of 25 years. The power generated will be sold to Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation – Kahramaa under a 25-year purchase agreement. The first 350MW is expected be connected to the grid in 2021 and remaining 450MW in 2022. Then, ownership of the power plant will be transferred to Kahramaa after the 25-year purchase agreement. Another renewable initiative is the Tarsheed’s Green Car – which aims to have 20% market share of Electric Vehicles (EV) by 2030. Kahramaa launched and tested the Tarsheed PV station for Energy Storage and charging Electric Vehicles the first solar-powered charging station in Qatar.
The station also contains power storage unit with a battery that has the capacity of 170KWh. There will be opportunities of such solutions to be set up in convenient locations around the country to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles. Alongside, the Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) are also in concerted effort looking for a specialized technology to produce electricity from waste, this includes the establishment of a unique center for solid waste treatment and convert it to electrical energy which is expected to also contribute to their Qatar National vision 2030.
The power and water industries are gearing up for significant expansion plans to cater the projected consumption increase during 2022 FIFA World Cup and the upcoming mega project in the North Field Expansion. There are number of ongoing works to upgrade and expand the national distribution network and increase of desalination capacity. Further power grid and generation projects are also underway. Kahramaa has started the implementation of the Advance Metering infrastructure project to be integrated with electricity and water meters. The project is expected to cost $8.2 million. Kahramaa has smart grid roadmap in collaboration with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. The company aims to transform Qatar’s grid into a smart one by 2026 and convert all Kahramaa meters to smart technologies expected by 2022 including fiber optics.
Next Steps for the U.S. client:
U.S. companies with advanced products and services offering solutions to these opportunities should work with Golda Agnazata Golda.Agnazata@trade.gov at the U.S. Commercial Service in Qatar to explore matchmaking, market research and other assistance that may prove beneficial.