Firms bag $850m Qatar substation contracts

8 May 2025

Four local and international firms have won contracts for the construction of seven high-voltage substations in Qatar.

State-backed Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) signed the contracts, which have a total combined value of approximately QR3.1bn ($850m), with the following firms:

  • Elsewedy Cables Qatar Company (local/Egypt)
  • Voltage Engineering (local)
  • Best/Betas Consortium (Turkey)
  • Taihan Cable & Solution (South Korea)

Kahramaa said the projects aim to “meet electrical network demand in light of the country's fast-growing …urban development”.

The contracts include the provision and installation of underground cables and overhead lines extending around 212 kilometres to connect these substations.

Qatari companies won the largest share, equivalent to 58.4% or QR1.8bn, of the total contract value.

This reflects “our great confidence in the capabilities of the local private sector and its pivotal role in achieving our development vision and achieving Qatar National Vision 2030”, said Kahramaa president Abdulla Bin Ali Al-Theyab.

Qatar Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, and senior executives from Kahramaa and the contracting firms signed the deals at a ceremony held in Doha.

Al-Kaabi said the projects will help “ensure our networks' continued and sustainable ability to accommodate the unprecedented growth of the power sector and meet the increasing electricity demand”.

Kahramaa said the contractors will undertake the construction of electrical substations and the connection of cables and overhead lines, as well as the development of some existing substations to increase their capacity.

Qatar has been ramping up its power generation capacity in recent years.  

Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, inaugurated the Ras Laffan and Mesaieed solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants on 28 April.

The two plants have a combined capacity of 875MW and will more than double Qatar’s solar energy production to 1,675MW.

In February, Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) and Kahramaa signed a power-purchase agreement for a 511MW peak electricity generation plant at Ras Abu Fontas, which will have a total cost of approximately QR1.6bn. The peak power plant is scheduled to become operational by January 2027.

A consortium led by South Korea's Doosan Enerbility, and that includes Beijing-headquartered PowerChina, will undertake the Ras Abu Fontas peak power plant's engineering, procurement and construction contract, with Germany's Siemens Energy supplying the plant's gas turbines.

Photo credit: Kahramaa

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Jennifer Aguinaldo
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