Qatar signs $470 mn solar deal
Gas-rich Qatar signed a $470-million deal on Sunday to build its first solar energy plant, capable of meeting up to one-tenth of peak national power demand.
The Al-Kharsaah plant, near the capital, is a 10-square-kilometre joint venture with French and Japanese partners due for completion in 2022 ahead of the football World Cup.
“Eight times the solar power pledged in the World Cup bid will be produced,” Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told a media briefing in Doha.
Qatar’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, vowed at the United Nations last year that the tournament would be carbon neutral, but gave little detail on how this would be achieved.
