South Korean contractor Samsung C&T has confirmed winning the $2.8bn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project to develop Qatar's fifth independent water and power project (IWPP).

Qatar state utility General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) signed the power and water purchase agreement (PWPA) for Qatar’s Facility E IWPP with a consortium led by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation on 25 November.

The Facility E IWPP scheme will have a power generation capacity of 2,400MW and a water desalination capacity of 100 million imperial gallons a day (MIGD).

MEED reported in July that Sumitomo had submitted a proposal for the contract. It leads a consortium that comprises fellow Japanese utility developer Shikoku Electric, Seoul-headquartered Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) and Korea Southern Power Company (Kospo).

The four consortium members will establish a project company along with Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) and QatarEnergy (QE).

According to Sumitomo, the equity distribution between the project company shareholders is:

• Sumitomo Corporation: 17%
• Shikoku Electric: 11%
• Kospo: 6%,
• KIND: 6%
• QEWC: 55%
• QE: 5%

Located in the Ras Abu Fontas region of Qatar, the project's total cost is $3.7bn, according to local media reports in South Korea citing Samsung C&T.

MEED understands that when the project is completed in 2029, Facility E will be responsible for about 16% of Qatar's total electricity and 17% of potable water.

Project background

The contract to develop the Facility E IWPP was first tendered in 2019. The three teams that submitted bids for the contract in August 2020 were:   

• Engie (France) / Mitsui (Japan) / Yonden (Shikoku Electric, Japan)
• Sumitomo / Kansai Electric (Japan)
• Marubeni / Kyushu Electric (Japan)

The original plan was for the Facility E IWPP to have a power generation capacity of about 2,300MW and a desalination component of 100MIGD once fully operational.

Kahramaa revised the power plant’s design capacity to 2,600MW and sought alternative prices from bidders. 

Kahramaa eventually cancelled and reissued the tender in September 2023. 

The state utility’s transaction advisory team includes UK-headquartered PwC and Clyde & Co as financial and legal advisers, respectively, led by Belgrade-headquartered Energoprojekt as technical adviser.

Completed and operational IWPPs in Qatar include three projects in Ras Laffan – known as Facilities A, B and C – and Facility D in Umm Al-Houl.

Awarded in 2015 and completed in 2018, Facility D was developed by a Japanese consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). South Korea’s Samsung C&T was the EPC contractor.