Qatar planning to build 1,800-megawatt solar plant

By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff Reporter

Qatar is finalising the design of  a 1,800-megawatt solar plant as part of its efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.  The plant’s construction is expected to begin in 2014, it was announced on the sidelines of the  United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP18/CMP8) in Doha yesterday.

The solar project will potentially cater for about 80% of the country’s water needs, COP18 Organising Sub-Committee chairman Fahad bin Mohamed al-Attiya explained at a press briefing.

He gave the information while revealing other plans by the Qatar National Food Security Programme in mitigating  the impact of climate change in the country through solar power.

“The plant is expected to provide around 3.5mn cubic metres of water…that is unprecedented; presently we are producing 1mn cubic metre through desalination, whereas the projection with the solar power is to be able to produce 5mn cubic metres,” he said.

“Qatar faces a critical vulnerability because we import up to 90% of our food and our water comes mostly from desalination. We have seen the impact of droughts, flooding, which means that climate change has direct impact on our livelihood.”

While reacting to a question on Qatar’s role as a developing nation in reducing emissions and preventing deterioration of the environment, the official stressed: “Development should not be at the cost of environment.”

He, however, admitted that the country was still developing in terms of capacity, “which is a major issue, not only for Qatar, but for most developing countries”.

Speaking further, he said that communities in Qatar were already having a feel of the UN  conference as most residents yesterday listened to imams speaking about climate change impact during the Friday prayer sermons held in more than 150 mosques across the country.

 “Messages about climate change impact have been reaching Qatar’s residents through the sermons, and we are already seeing a lot of engagements as a result of the messages.”

Al-Attiya noted that the COP18 president, HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, had granted a sum of $500,000 in support of Arab non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to boost their participation in the UN meeting.

“The president has granted the amount to motivate close to 50 Arab NGOs which, altogether, have up to 7,000 members as observer groups, to further demonstrate the willingness of his presidency to boost the capacity of the non-governmental sector and give them access to major conferences,” he said.

The official pointed out that a civil action space had been situated within the Qatar National Convention Centre for NGOs and expressed support for the march being organised today on the Corniche, aimed at demanding  action to address climate change at the UN negotiations.  

Green... and beautiful

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change executive secretary, Christiana Figueres, has thanked the Qatari hosts of COP18/CMP8 and described the venue, the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC), as fantastic. “I am very grateful for Qatar’s preparations for COP,” Figueres said in an  interview reported by the conference website. She noted that the QNCC was not only beautiful but also a green building in line with the ambitions of the UNFCCC. “We’ve never worked in a place (QNCC) as environmentally responsible,” she said, adding that the venue was “fantastic”.