Millions of tons of CO2 eliminated by 10 km2 photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Qatar

Located 80 km West of Qatar’s capital Doha, the Al Kharsaah photovoltaic (PV) plant has an installed capacity of 800 MWp and covers an area of 10 km². The plant will mix generation capacities with fossil fuel (natural gas) and will save millions of metric tons of CO₂ throughout its operational lifespan.

As independent engineer (“Assessor”), our multinational Renewable Energy team had a contract with Qatari utility company KAHRAMAA and the project company, which developed and implemented the independent power producer (IPP) project. Tractebel was responsible for:

• Review and approval of the design documents prior to construction
• Witnessing of the factory acceptance tests for the main plant components
• Construction monitoring and reporting
• Witnessing of commissioning tests, grid tests, and performance tests
• Regular site inspection of the construction, commissioning and testing activities
• Issuance of acceptance certificates as per the power purchase agreement (PPA) requirements

Al Kharsaah photovoltaic plant will supply a whopping 10% of Qatar’s annual average peak energy demand

Nearly 1.8 million PV modules for Qatar’s first major solar power plant

The Al Kharsaah project, Qatar’s first utility-scale solar power plant and one of the biggest in the Middle East, consists of approximately two million bifacial photovoltaic modules capable of absorbing sunlight on both sides. These are mounted on automated, single-axis, sun-tracking systems. The solar panels are cleaned with robotic cleaning technology.

The PV plant was developed by Siraj-1, formed by QatarEnergy (60%), TotalEnergies (19.6%) and Marubeni (20.4%). Phase 1 of the facility (400 MWp) began in February 2020 and was operational by July 2022. The energy is injected into the grid via a 132 kV IPP substation and a 132 kV / 220 kV offtaker substation. The entire 800 MWp facility was operational in October 2022.

Tractebel’s Renewable Energy experts from Germany, India and Qatar collaborated to support this landmark 800 MWp, 10 km² project

"Since our mandate in 2014 for transaction advisory services on the first utility-scale solar park in the Middle East in Dubai, Phase 2 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, a 260 MWp PV IPP project, our teams have worked on numerous renewable energy projects across the region. As independent engineer on the 800 MWp Al Kharsaah Solar PV IPP project, we are very pleased to contribute to such a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Now with offices in Qatar, the Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman, our experts are well positioned to continue to support our clients in the Middle East and GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries in developing solar power projects and distributing the generated “green” electricity."

Samuel Karres
Project Manager Gas-to-X and Renewable Energy Projects, Gas-to-X – Global Power, Tractebel in Germany

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