Qatar awards $2.8bn contract for Doha desalination plant

Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

• Samsung C&T wins contract
• Plant will produce 2,400MW
• Total cost of project is $3.7bn

Qatar Electricity and Water Authority (Kahramaa) has awarded Samsung C&T Construction Group a $2.84 billion contract to build a combined-cycle power plant in Doha. 

The gas-fired power plant, Facility E, will produce up to 2,400 megawatts of electricity and 500,000 tons of desalinated water per day.

When completed in 2029, the plant will account for approximately 16 percent of Qatar’s total electricity and 17 percent of its desalinated water. Samsung C&T has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project, which will cost a total of $3.7 billion. 

The Qatar authority selected a consortium led by Japan’s Sumitomo as the operator for the plant, which will be located in the Ras Abu Fontas area, approximately 18km southeast of Doha. 

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Qatar Electricity and Water Company has signed a 25-year power and water purchase agreement, it said in an announcement to the Qatar Stock Exchange, where its shares are traded.  

“As this is a Qatari national infrastructure project, our previous experience in carrying out the project and the solid trust we have built through this played a big role in winning the bid,” said Lee Byung-soo, Samsung C&T energy solutions business division head. 

Sumitomo said the new plant will employ high-efficiency gas turbines that consume less gas and emit lower levels of CO2 and other pollutants. 

Samsung C&T has already completed a similar-sized desalination combined-cycle power plant and desalination plant close to the new project. 

It was also awarded the contract to build a mega power project involving two solar plants in Mesaieed that will generate a total of 875MW.