Major Plant in Qatar to Double Solar Capacity by 2030

Qatar is set to double its renewable energy capacity by 2030 with a new large-scale solar plant, announced by Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi.

The photovoltaic facility, to be built in Dukhan, approximately 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Doha, will boost the Gulf state’s solar output to four gigawatts by the end of the decade, Kaabi said.

The Dukhan plant will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, doubling Qatar’s current solar energy production, according to Kaabi, who also serves as the CEO of state-owned QatarEnergy.

In October 2022, Qatar launched its first major solar farm at Al-Kharsaah, and later announced another solar project at Ras Laffan with two additional plants.

Combined with the Dukhan facility, these projects aim to provide 4,000 megawatts of clean energy by 2030, which would account for 30 percent of the country’s total energy production and reduce annual CO2 emissions by 4.7 million tonnes, Kaabi noted.

Kaabi also highlighted that the existing projects are expected to produce 1.7 gigawatts of energy by early next year.

The minister further announced plans to more than double Qatar’s urea production, positioning the country as the world’s largest producer of the fertilizer by the end of the decade.

Qatar intends to boost production from 6 million tonnes per year to over 12.4 million tonnes annually through a new globally standardized chemical fertilizer complex.

Qatar, one of the leading global producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) alongside the U.S., Australia, and Russia, also aims to expand its LNG output to 142 million tonnes per year by 2030 through the North Field project.

Over the past year, Qatar has secured several long-term LNG agreements with companies such as France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec, and Italy’s Eni, among others.