Financial close for 800MW solar in Qatar
Electricity Unit Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation KAHRAMAA have announced the financial closure and completion of all needed financial arrangements with the international financiers involved in the Al Kharsaah Solar PV IPP Project ( Siraj-1), the first of its kind in Qatar to produce electricity using photovoltaic cells with a capacity of 800 MW.
The project's company, Siraj-1 Company, has obtained the senior loans, which had been provided by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Mizuho Corporate Bank.
After the project's financial close, the Levelized Electricity Cost (LEC) was set at QAR5.281 (US$1.438) per KWh, which is the lowest price in the world for these types of projects.
Last January, KAHRAMAA had signed the agreements of Siraj-1 large-scale solar power plant to produce electricity using photovoltaic technology. According to the agreements, KAHRAMAA will purchase the electrical energy produced from the plant, while Siraj-1 must construct and operate the project. Siraj-1 Company is owned by Siraj Energy (60 percent) and a consortium of Japan's Marubeni Corporation and France's Total Solar International (40 percent).
The project will be constructed, owned and operated for 25 years. Then, the assets will be transferred to KAHRAMAA according to the system of Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer (BOOT) that is known globally, committed to the principle of public and private partnerships as well as to encourage foreign investments in major projects.
The project will be constructed with a total cost of QAR1.7 billion (US$463 million) at a 10 square kilometer land plot in Al Kharsaah area west of Doha that has been allocated for KAHRAMAA.
The plant will have a total capacity of 800 MW which equals about 10 percent of Qatar's current peak electricity demand. The 350 MW will be linked to the grid as a first phase in the second quarter of 2021. The commercial commissioning for the total capacity will be in the first quarter of 2022 in order to achieve the announced strategic objective of National Strategic Development 2018-2022.
The plant contributes in reducing around 26 million tons of emissions during the project period and will support Qatar's commitment to host a carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup. This also comes in line with one of the objectives of National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency Tarsheed, represented in reducing at least one million tons of emissions annually until 2022.
KAHRAMAA was advised by a consortium of consultants led by Ernst & Young as a financial consultant, DLA Piper as a legal consultant and Poyry as a technical consultant.
