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QEWC and Kahramaa sign peak plant offtake

27 February 2025

Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) and Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) have signed a power-purchase agreement (PPA) for the peak electricity generation plant at Ras Abu Fontas.

The total contractual capacity for the units is 511MW, with a total cost of approximately QR1.6bn ($439.5m). The peak power plant is scheduled to become operational by January 2027.

The signing of the PPA comes four months after QEWC said that it was studying the development of a project to build, own and operate a peak power unit with a production capacity of 500MW. 

A peak power unit typically refers to an open-cycle gas turbine plant, which can help increase the electricity grid's flexibility to meet peak demand.

Kahramaa president Abdulla Bin Ali Al-Theyab and QEWC managing director and CEO Mohammed Nasser Al-Hajri signed the PPA.

According to the firms, the project represents a “strategic step towards enhancing the stability and reliability of the national electricity grid, as well as supporting efforts to expand the use of solar energy within the country’s energy mix”.

US/India-based Synergy Consulting provided financial advisory services to QEWC on the transaction.

This development comes a few months after Qatari state-owned petroleum company QatarEnergy unveiled plans to build a new 2,000MW solar power project in Qatar’s Dukhan area.

The initiative is expected to more than double Qatar’s solar energy production capacity, while contributing significantly to lowering the nation’s carbon emissions.

The Gulf state expects to build a renewable energy capacity of about 4,000MW by 2030, which is nearly 40% of its current capacity.

Qatar's first solar independent power project (IPP), the 800MW Al-Kharsaah scheme, is now operational.

Construction is under way for two other solar photovoltaic (PV) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects, which will have a total combined capacity of 875MW.

South Korea's Samsung C&T is constructing the 458MW Ras Laffan and 417MW Mesaieed solar power plants.

In November, Kahramaa awarded a contract to develop its fifth independent water and power project (IWPP). The gas-fired Facility E IWPP project will have a power generation capacity of 2,300MW and a water desalination capacity of 100 million imperial gallons a day.

Photo credit: QEWC

MEED’s latest special report on Qatar includes: 

> COMMENT: Doha works to reclaim spotlight
> ECONOMY: Qatar economy rebounds alongside diplomatic activity
> BANKING: Qatar banks look to calmer waters in 2025
> UPSTREAM: QatarEnergy strives to raise gas and oil production capacity
> DOWNSTREAM: Qatar chemical projects take a step forward
> POWER & WATER: Facility E award jumpstarts Qatar’s utility projects
> CONSTRUCTION: Qatar construction shows signs of recovery
> DATABANK: Qatar maintains stable growth heading

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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