The France-based energy company TotalEnergies moved a step closer to its 2025 goal of installing 35 GW of solar capacity by opening one of the biggest photovoltaic (PV) arrays in the Middle East.
The Al Kharsaah solar PV array in Qatar was developed jointly with QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions and has a 25-year contract to supply electricity to Kahramaa, the grid operator in Qatar. A thousand-hectare site hosts the plant, which comprises some two million PV modules. These modules are installed on single-axis trackers, so they can follow the sun over the day to maximise power generation, and they are equipped with PV cells on both sides, so the underside can capture rays reflected off the ground.
At a capacity of 800MWp, the new plant is the first large-scale plant in Qatar, with it being capable of meeting 10% of the country’s peak power demand.
Patrick Pouyanné, the chief executive of TotalEnergies, said about the new array:
“This giant project, which contributed to the sustainability roadmap of Qatar, demonstrates once again TotalEnergies’ ability to support producing countries in their energy transition by combining natural gas production and solar energy to meet the growing demand for electricity.”
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