Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 30

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

Japanese banks confirm

lending to Qatar solar project

JAPAN JAPANESE banks are to provide financing for The Build, Own, Operate, and Transfer
Qatar’s 800MW Siraj-1 solar power plant, which (BOOT) project will be constructed, owned and
has secured a record-low tariff of $0.01 per kWh. operated for 25 years, after which is will be trans-
Japan Bank for International Cooperation ferred to KAHRAMAA. Commercial operations
(JBIC) and Mizuho Corporate Bank are finance are due to begin in April 2022.
the US$467mn plant, which is being developed The plant will have a total capacity of 800MW,
by Total, Marubeni and Qatar’s Siraj Energy. which equals about 10% of Qatar’s current peak
Qatar General Electricity and Water Corpo- electricity demand. 350 MW will be linked to the
ration (KAHRAMAA) this week announced grid as a first phase in the second quarter of 2021.
financial closure for the plant, with a Levelised The commercial commissioning for the total
Electricity Cost (LEC) set at $0.01449 per kWh, capacity will be in first quarter of 2022 in order
the lowest price yet seen worldwide for a solar to achieve the announced strategic objective of
project of this scale. National Strategic Development 2018-2022.
in January 2020, KAHRAMAA signed pro- The plant will contribute to reducing around
ject agreements for Siraj-1, by which KAH- 26mn tonnes tons of emissions during the
RAMAA, which is Qatar’s transmission and 25-year project period, and will support Qatar’s
distribution system operator, will purchase the commitment to host a carbon neutral FIFA
plant’s output. World Cup.
JBIC will provide project financing amount- It also falls in line with one of the objectives
ing to US$165mn under its Growth Investment of the National Program for Conservation and
Facility. The loan is co-financed with Mizuho Energy Efficiency Tarsheed, which aims to
Bank, with total co-financing amount around reduce at least 1mn tonnes of emissions annu-
US$330mn. ally until 2022.
The plant’s operator, Siraj-1 Company, is Marubeni holds a stake in the 1,177MW
owned by Siraj Energy (60%) and a consortium Noor Abu Dhabi Solar PV IPP project in Abu
of Japan’s Marubeni Corporation and France’s Dhabi, being developed by Jinko Solar and Abu
Total Solar International (40 percent). Dhabi Power Corporation. ™

India could reach 510GW

green target by 2030

INDIA INDIA could have 510GW of renewable capac- innovative bids for meeting peak demand, round
ity by 2030, but only if existing thermal power the clock electricity, and storage, all of which will
plants become more flexible and future demand bring prices down,” he added.
growth is met solely by renewables. Meanwhile, TERI said in a report that vari-
This target would include 450GW of wind ous strategies are required to accommodate the
and solar and 60GW of hydro. growth of variable renewables and allow for the
This would mean that renewables accounts achievement of India’s mid-term renewables
for 60% of total generating capacity, Indian targets.
Power Minister RK Singh said recently. According to the report, India can integrate
He told a Indian sustainability thinktank The more than 30% of wind and solar power in its
Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) that flex- power system by 2030, while still maintaining
ibility was key. security of supply without raising the total eco-
“We aim to make our thermal capacity flex- nomic costs of its electricity system.
ible, almost 55% in the first stage and gradually The report suggests this can be achieved if a
extend it to the entire capacity,” said the minister. comprehensive portfolio of options is deployed
“All our demand growth will be met by to increase the power system’s flexibility.
renewable energy. We are balancing the grid First, the existing sources of supply, particu-
through hydropower. We are looking at grow- larly the large coal and hydro fleets, need to be
ing capacity from floating solar. There have been operated with maximum possible flexibility.

Week 30 29•July•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11