As part of its initiative to reduce its reliance on oil and gas and its commitment to renewal energy, Qatar has announced that within the next two years two more solar power plants will be built with a combined capacity of 880 megawatts. Following on from the completion of Al Kharsaah Solar PV Power Plant ("KSPP"), a new solar power plant will be built in Mesaieed with a capacity of 410 megawatts, and another will be built in Ras Laffan with a capacity of 470 megawatts. Before the completion of KSPP, Qatar was wholly reliant on gas and steam-powered turbines to produce electricity.
KSPP was the first solar power plant built in Qatar, introducing new levels of energy efficiency and reducing the amount of manpower necessary to operate the plant. The main control room utilises the latest equipment and software to ensure operation by a handful of engineers and assistants. KSPP was built with more than 1,800,000 solar panels that are automated using sun-tracking technology to ensure maximise daily production, and they are cleaned by automated robotic arms and treated water to ensure efficiency.
The solar plants are part of QatarEnergy's recent sustainability strategy, which aims to increase solar capacity to over 5 gigawatts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and deploy carbon capture and storage technology to capture over 11 million tonnes per annum of CO2 in Qatar by 2035.
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