The Chairman and CEO of QSTec Dr Khalid Klefeekh Al Hajri and the  President of Kahramaa Essa Hilal Al Kuwari exchanging the documents at the Kahramaa headquarters yesterday.

DOHA: Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec)  and Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the distribution of Qatar’s emerging solar power.

Dr Khalid Klefeekh Al Hajri, Chairman and CEO of QSTec and  Essa Hilal Al Kuwari, President of Kahramaa  signed the MoU at an event held at the Kahramaa’s headquarters yesterday.

Dr Al Hajri said: “Solar energy is definitely emerging in Qatar and is the key to providing a sustainable alternative source of energy. We are extremely proud to be teaming up with Kahramaa to ensure that solar power is able to reach every single person in Qatar and provide alternative energy sources to a wide variety of solar applications.”

“QSTec’s collaboration with Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) and now Kahramaa brings us full circle in solar energy; from the manufacturing of solar technologies and applications, to everyone in Qatar receiving energy from the sun directly into their homes,” Dr Al Hajri added. “We look forward to working on many projects together using solar energy.”

Qatar Solar Technologies’ number one priority is providing solar solutions that are sustainable, efficient and the very best quality. QSTec will start by producing high quality, solar grade polysilicon; the key ingredient that goes into making the world’s most efficient solar technologies such as solar cells and modules that convert the power of the sun into energy.

Essa Hilal Al-Kuwari, President of Kahramaa said, “This MoU comes in line with Kahramaa’s commitment to realising the objectives of QNV 2030 and the development strategies of other government institutions. We value this initiative between QSTec and Kahramaa, a module of cooperation between national corporations in the road to strengthen the foundation of a knowledge economy. This MoU will help us in improving our energy and water conservation plan and searching on alternative sources for renewable energy.”

Al Kuwari underlined Kahramaa’s commitments to reduce its carbon footprint to the level that maintains sustainable environmental development.

In the not too distant future, QSTec hopes to build solar modules made in Qatar, made from QSTec’s own polysilicon and then exported to the rest of the world, he said.

In Qatar, there are already some projects using solar energy in unique ways.

The Qatar National Food Securities Programme is looking at using solar to power its desalination plants, the 2022 World Cup will be the first carbon neutral World Cup and will be utilising solar energy for its air conditioned solar stadiums and fan zones.

QSTec’s parent organisation, Qatar Foundation, has several projects such as the Qatar National Convention Centre, the new student housing complex and the Msheireb Properties development that will derive a percentage of their electricity needs using solar energy.

Built on 1.2m sq m of land in Ras Laffan Industrial City,  QSTec’s $1bn polysilicon manufacturing plant will produce 8,000 metric tonnes per year (MTPY) of polysilicon but it is designed to expand as demand grows.

Eventually, more than 45,000 MTPY of polysilicon can be produced with the plant being designed to seamlessly incorporate ingots, wafers, cells and modules. There is a growing demand within the GCC and the world for solar technologies and applications that are sustainable, reliable and that will bring a lasting benefit to the region and the world and QSTec is well placed to expand to meet this demand.

Kahramaa has the privilege of being the sole transmission and distribution system owner and operator for the electricity and water sector in Qatar, he said.

The Peninsula