Qatar inaugurates first solar energy plant, to supply 10% of Gulf nation’s power provide

Gas-rich Qatar inaugurated on Tuesday its first solar energy plant stretching throughout the desert, an unlimited web site deliberate to supply as much as 10% of the tiny Gulf nation’s power provide.

Qatar,UPDATED: Oct 19, 2022 05:34 IST

The undertaking, at a value of 1.7 billion Qatari riyals (about $467 million), consists of some 1.8 million photo voltaic panels. (Photo: AFP)

By Agence France-Presse: Gas-rich Qatar inaugurated on Tuesday its first solar energy plant stretching throughout the desert, an unlimited web site deliberate to supply as much as 10% of the tiny Gulf nation’s power provide.

The photo voltaic farm in al-Kharsaah, west of the capital Doha, is “one of the biggest” within the Middle East, stated Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, the emirate’s power minister and president of QatarVitality.

It was launched in 2016 in partnership with France’s TotalEnergies and Japan’s Marubeni as a part of a broader push by Qatar — one of many world’s largest producers of liquified pure gasoline — to spend money on photo voltaic power.

The undertaking, at a value of 1.7 billion Qatari riyals (about $467 million), consists of some 1.8 million photo voltaic panels and covers an space of greater than 10 sq. kilometres (3.9 sq. miles).

Operational since June, the plant has a capability of 800 megawatts and can “expand” additional in coming years, Kaabi instructed a press convention.

Kaabi stated the plant is a part of Qatar’s “strategic initiatives to build projects that contribute to reducing gas and thermal emissions”.

During the day, sun-tracking expertise strikes the panels to make sure most photo voltaic publicity, whereas at evening, robotic arms clear off the mud.

Organisers of the soccer World Cup, which begins on November 20, have used the large photo voltaic plant to again claims that Qatar will host the primary “net zero” World Cup.

But Kaabi stated he couldn’t verify the al-Kharsaah plant will present energy for the stadiums internet hosting matches through the November-December match.

Qatar, whereas lagging behind different Gulf states within the photo voltaic race, has introduced a goal of 5 gigawatts of photo voltaic power capability by 2035.

It introduced two main photo voltaic tasks in August that can greater than double its power output from the renewable supply inside two years.

Saudi Arabia has additionally introduced a goal of 5 gigawatts of photo voltaic power capability, however vowed to succeed in it by 2030. The United Arab Emirates has had photo voltaic crops for greater than a decade.