QatarEnergy has announced a partnership with TotalEnergies to develop a 1.25GW (peak) solar project in Iraq. Under the agreement, which is pending regulatory approvals, QatarEnergy will hold a 50% stake in the solar photovoltaic (PV) project, while TotalEnergies will retain the other half.
Located in the Basra region of Iraq, this solar facility is set to become one of the largest in the world. It will feature two million bifacial solar panels equipped with single-axis trackers. The clean energy generated from this facility will be supplied to the local electricity grid.
The project will be developed in stages, with completion phases anticipated between 2025 and 2027. Once operational, it is expected to provide green electricity to approximately 350,000 homes.
This solar initiative is part of Iraq’s broader Gas Growth Integrated Project, which QatarEnergy joined in June 2023. The consortium for this project comprises QatarEnergy with a 25% interest, TotalEnergies with 45%, and Iraq’s Basra Oil Company with 30%. The project aims to harness Iraq’s natural resources while reducing gas flaring in the Basra region to power local plants.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and CEO of QatarEnergy, expressed his satisfaction with the partnership, stating, “I am pleased to have concluded our entry into this very important project for Iraq’s energy sector and look forward to working with our strategic partner, TotalEnergies, to progress it to fruition. We thank the Iraqi government for their trust and TotalEnergies for this opportunity to support Iraq’s solar power development.”
In September 2024, QatarEnergy also announced plans to construct a new 2GW solar power project in Qatar’s Dukhan area. This initiative will more than double Qatar’s solar energy production capacity and significantly reduce the nation’s carbon emissions, increasing the country’s PV solar power production capacity to 4GW.
