Business & Finance Clun Magazine - Industrial Sector - DOHA: The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday inaugurated the $2.3bn Mesaieed power plant at Mesaieed Industrial City which will meet one-third of the country’s total electricity demand.

The plant, the country’s third independent integrated water and power plant (IWPP) with a capacity of 2,000 megawatts, was developed and is being managed by Mesaieed Power Company (M Power).

M Power is a joint stock company in which Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) holds a 40 percent stake, Qatar Petroleum (QP) a 20 percent stake, and Marubeni Corporation and Chubu Electric Power of Japan 30 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

M Power has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) to sell its entire production for 25 years.

The fresh infusion of electricity from M Power will provide a boost to Qatar’s already robust economy and thereby drive further development. Rapid economic development of the kind Qatar is witnessing is heavily dependent on electrical power to sustain industrial and corporate growth.

The project has been financed with strong support from Japan Bank for International Corporation. Several other reputed international, regional and local commercial banks including Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment bank also played an active role in financing it.

The Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the plant, said the Mesaieed power plant and the much bigger Ras Girtas power and water plant under construction in Ras Laffan will provide the country with surplus electricity from next year.

He said the first phase of the Ras Girtas power and water plant was slated for completion before the end of this year. The plant, which will produce 2,730 MW of electricity and 65 million gallons of water per day (MGD) will be commissioned in 2011.

Al Attiyah also said the state was looking into ways to optimise the use of the surplus electricity, which could be exploited by either increasing industrial projects that rely on electric power or export when there are real and negotiable offers.

He described the Mesaieed power plant as a qualitative leap in the country, noting that economic development and progress is determined by the availability of energy. Electricity shortage in many countries has negatively affected their economic development, he said.

Asked whether the electricity provided by the Mesaieed power plant paves the way for supplying Kuwait with 500 MW of electricity as some reports have suggested, Al Attiyah pointed out that any formal offer made by any party will be discussed by the state.

M Power’s 400 kilovolts (KV) super sub-station will provide Kahramaa with much needed voltage support for its grid. It will form the backbone of the new 400 KV system that will underpin Qatar’s commitment to the Gulf Regional Interconnection.

The M Power plant boasts full back start capability, allowing it to restore power to the grid during emergencies.