French energy giant Total has entered into agreements to build the 800MW Al Kharsaah solar project in Qatar.
The US$500m PV scheme will start delivering 350MW of power to the grid from 2021 before the full capacity goes live a year later.
Al Kharsaah will be spread across over 1000 hectares of land and will feature 2 million bifacial solar modules.
Total is joined on the project by shareholders Marubeni and a the Siraj Energy tie-up, a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and utility QEWC.
A 25-year PPA with off-taker Kahramaa is already in place.
“We are proud to pioneer the development of the first large-scale solar power plant in Qatar and support the country’s assertive commitment to developing renewable energy,” said Total chief executive Patrick Pouyanne.
“Together with our partners, we will bring the best of our expertise and technical know-how to deliver one of the most competitive projects in the world.
“Al Kharsaah, Total’s largest solar project to date, will contribute to our ambition to deploy 25GW of renewables by 2025. This project further strengthens our long-term partnership with Qatar in oil, natural gas, refining and petrochemicals and expands it to include renewable energy.
“It is a very clear symbol of the strategy of Total to become a global energy company.”