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Four major Japanese and Korean energy companies have jointly won the rights to build and operate a natural gas-fired power plant and a seawater desalination facility near Doha in Qatar. Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp. on Nov. 26 announced it will lead the group, which includes Japan's Shikoku Electric Power along with Korea Southern Power and Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corp., through an international tender organized by Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp., known as Kahramaa. Sumitomo, representing the four companies, signed a long-term power and water sale agreement with Kahramaa for generation from a 2,400-MW natural gas-fired power station, along with a 495,000 tons/day desalination plant. The power and water plants, currently known as Facility E, will be built on the site of an old power plant about 16 miles south of Doha, Qatar's capital, in the Ras Abu Fontas area. Sumitomo on Tuesday said the new power plant "will employ high-efficiency gas turbines that consume less gas and emit lower levels of CO2 and other pollutants, contributing to stable energy supplies and decarbonization efforts in Qatar." The group said the government of Qatar also will look at plans for carbon capture and storage at the site to further reduce emissions of CO2.
The Qatar project is the second collaboration between Sumitomo Corp. and Shikoku Electric for an overseas project. The two groups previously joined for the Hamriyah Independent Power Project in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. That 1,800-MW combined-cycle plant came online in October 2023. The Hamriyah facility features three 600-MW GE Vernova 9HA.01 gas turbines that power three H84 generators. The station also is equipped with three STFs-D650 reheat steam turbines that power three A74 generators. The Doha plant is the first power project in Qatar for Sumitomo, and the second for Shikoku Electric, which also was part of the 2,730-MW Ras Laffan C Water and Power Project in Al Khawr. Ras Laffan was commissioned in May 2011. Sumitomo has previously managed private-sector independent power projects (IPP) and independent water and power projects (IWPP) in the Middle East, including facilities in Kuwait and the UAE. The Doha plant will be the sixth IPP/IWPP project in the Middle East for Shikoku Electric. Qatar is among the countries that ratified the Paris Agreement on climate. The country's National Renewable Energy Strategy, issued by Kahramaa, calls for the retirement of older power generation stations and construction of new natural gas-fired facilities. The strategy also calls for more solar power, along with carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Officials have said electricity demand in Qatar is expected to increase nearly 60% by 2040 compared to 2021 levels. —Darrell Proctor is a senior editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).