Qatar has lot of potential for future solar projects, says Matthieu Bouyer, managing director, Total E&P Qatar and Total country chair in Qatar.
In renewables, Total is partnering alongside Marubeni and Siraj Energy, a Joint Venture between Qatar Petroleum and QEWC (Qatar Electricity & Water Company) to develop Al Kharsaa, the largest solar project in Qatar, with 800MW, which should be in full capacity by the end of first quarter 2022, he told Gulf Times in an interview.
Once fully started, it will represent around 10% of electricity peak demand of the country.
“This project will reduce emissions from power generation significantly with 26 million tons of carbon saved during the life of the project. We are proud to partner with QP on this strategic project that will contribute to making Qatari energy mix greener,” Bouyer noted.
He said Total’s ambition is to be among the top five “renewables players worldwide” by 2030 and targets 35GW gross capacity by 2025.
Speaking about the activities of Total Marketing Qatar (TMQ), Bouyer said TMQ did experience a drop in sales volume during the pandemic period from some regular oil change centres, both aftermarket and franchise dealers due to low customer footfall.
“While we have made sure that we offer our best support to this segment during the tough times, we also kept our focus on other key segments such as industrial and commercial road transport, both directly and via our local partners, where actually we have won new businesses amid stiff competition.
“Overall, our volumes sold in 2020 have been good compared to 2019 despite the pandemic. This has helped us maintain our market position.”
In 2021, he said, “TMQ is emerging even stronger as we aim to explore new opportunities in key segments through our brand, service, and concept support but also by offering new to range synthetic products from Total Lubricants, which are becoming quite popular among our customers for the enhanced equipment performance.
He said Total is a committed energy partner of Qatar with more than 85 years of presence and where all business segments are represented and developed. Now with renewables, the whole strategy of the company is deployed. “This is a clear reflection of our strong partnership with Qatar underlining the convergence of Qatar’s National Vision together with Total’s own strategy and climate ambition.
Additionally, he affirmed “developing national capabilities” is a top priority for Total in Qatar.
“Despite the worldwide hire freeze, we have hired new Qatari staffs to join our technical teams last year. We keep developing new programmes with high-profile entities such as Qatar University or Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq) recently.
“These are part of our initiatives to help in the career development of future executives of the country,” Bouyer added.
 
 
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