QatarEnergy to develop solar project in Iraq with Total  

State-backed QatarEnergy and France’s TotalEnergies have signed an agreement to develop a solar power plant as part of the gas growth integrated project (GGIP) in Iraq.

The two companies will equally own the project, but the agreement is subject to regulatory approvals.

The project, “one of the largest in the world”, will consist of two million high-efficiency bifacial solar panels that will be capable of supplying up to 1.25 gigawatts (GW) of power to the electricity grid in the Basra region.

The project will power 350,000 homes on completion. It will be developed in phases, coming online between 2025 and 2027. No financial details were given.

In June 2023, QatarEnergy entered a consortium to implement the gas growth integrated project in Iraq, holding a 25 percent stake, along with TotalEnergies (45 percent) and Iraq’s Basra Oil Company (30 percent).

• Middle East on track to triple renewables capacity
• BP seeking new investments in Iraq and Kuwait
• Iraq forges ahead with plans for first big solar plant

GGIP is a strategic project that involves designing and constructing facilities to develop Iraq’s natural resources and recovering significant volumes of otherwise flared gas throughout the Basra region to supply power generation plants.

In February, the country’s cabinet approved a proposal to install 12 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2030, said a National Investment Commission representative, Rahim Al Jaafari.

Opec’s second-largest crude oil producer after Saudi Arabia, the country aims to generate around 10GW of green power by 2025. This would amount to a third of its electricity mix.