QatarEnergy has announced that it will build a new solar power mega project that will more than double the State of Qatar’s solar energy production, significantly contributing to lower carbon emissions.

The new project will boost Qatar’s photovoltaic (PV) solar power production capacity to about 4,000 megawatts (MW) by building one of the world’s largest solar power plants in the Dukhan area, with a capacity of 2,000 MW.

The announcement was made by Saad Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, during a press conference held at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha.

Al-Kaabi said: “I would like to emphasise that developing solar power plants is one of Qatar’s most crucial initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions, develop sustainability projects, and diversify electricity production, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 4.7 million tons per annum.”

The new solar project will be added to QatarEnergy’s solar power portfolio, which includes the existing 800 MW Al-Kharsaah solar power plant and two solar power projects that QatarEnergy is building in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed industrial cities with a total production capacity of 875 MW, and which are expected to start production before the end of this year.”

With the addition of the Dukhan Solar Power Plant, QatarEnergy’s portfolio of solar power projects in Qatar will reach a capacity of about 4,000 MW by 2030, representing about 30 per cent of the country total power production capacity.