POWERCHINA Blue Reflects on Qatar’s Gobi Desert

800.15MWp Al-Kharsaa PV plant

The 800.15MWp Al-Kharsaa PV power plant built by POWERCHINA is located in the desert about 80km west of Doha, the capital of Qatar. The PV panels are stretching for miles, like a blue ocean, which is quite spectacular.

The Al-Kharsaa PV power plant is currently the third largest single PV project in the world, the largest PV project using a tracking system, and the largest PV project in the world using both double-sided double-glass modules, tracking mounts and string inverters. One month before the start of the World Cup, the plant was successfully connected to the grid at full capacity, supporting Qatar's commitment to host a "carbon-neutral" World Cup.

During the project, POWERCHINA insisted on green construction. It worked out a detailed animal relocation plan with local professional companies and transplanted 800 trees. During the construction process, the company established a mechanism for the economical use of energy resources and recycling, and did a good job of waste classification and disposal to minimize the impact on the local ecological environment.

The natural environment of the construction site is very harsh. There is not only the high temperature of over 50℃, but also the danger of sandstorm. A large amount of sand and dust accumulation pollution will be generated every day, and the dust layer blocks the absorption of light irradiation by the modules, which will seriously reduce the power generation. To cope with these adverse effects, POWERCHINA's overseas employees use automated dry cleaning robots to clean the dust on the module surface once a day, successfully increasing the power generation of the plant by 20%.

"In addition, the project team makes full use of the tracking bracket, which will track the changes in the incidence angle of the sun throughout the day, so as to effectively improve the efficiency of power generation. At the same time, the application of the latest high-efficiency double-sided double-glass modules can improve the efficiency of power generation by the effective use of ground reflection of light. What’s more, the project introduces 3D modeling and other technologies in the design stage, providing solid technical support for the project construction," said Yang Guoya, director of construction team of POWERCHINA Project Department.

The initial start of the Al-Kharsaa PV project coincided with the global outbreak of the epidemic. Due to the limitations of the local market in Qatar, it was extremely difficult to deploy local manpower, materials, machinery and equipment. And with the Suez Canal cargo ship grounding accident on March 23, 2021, the logistics from European manufacturers were totally blocked. The project department timely communicated with the owner, suppliers and logistics companies, urgently transferred goods from the neighboring countries, unloaded goods all at once, adopted a shift system for personnel, and timely adjusted the way of issuing materials according to the situation of subcontractors on site. POWERCHINA also deployed a technical team of more than 50 people from China to support the project and developed a document control system APP to enhance the progress of document approval.

POWERCHINA insists on "localization" development strategy and recruits a large number of foreign employees in Qatar, with the proportion of foreign employees reaching 80%, who have rich experience in the Middle East market and can skillfully control the project quality. According to Mohammed Shibu, an Indian project engineer, the project was delayed for several days due to the severe natural environment, trap pits in the project site, sandstorms and high winds. After continuous communication and coordination, the employees were arranged to work extra shifts in moderate amount under suitable weather conditions to make up for the lost time.

Santosh Nazir, a senior quality control engineer also from India, has been working in Qatar for 13 years. Before joining POWERCHINA, he worked in a local hydropower company and accumulated rich experience in substation commissioning, and he gave full play to his professional advantages in the Qatar PV project and successfully completed the substation equipment replacement within the specified time.

To further bring all employees closer, POWERCHINA regularly organizes barbecue and hot pot, and gives employees Chinese specialties such as  Guizhou dried prickly apple rose, chili sauce and tea during Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival. For other cultural backgrounds, the company will hold different activities. For example, during Ramadan, the company holds parties for Muslim employees and their families, so that employees and their families can enjoy the reunion. Through the construction of this project, many foreign employees have established a deep connection with POWERCHINA.

As part of Qatar National Vision 2030, the project covers an area equivalent to 1,400 soccer fields and is expected to provide approximately 18TWh of clean electricity per year, meeting the annual electricity consumption of approximately 300,000 households and 10 percent of the country's peak load. While the carbon savings from the plant can offset half of the emissions generated by this year's World Cup.

What's worth mentioning is that the equipment in the PV area of the project mainly adopts China-made Longi modules, Sungrow inverters and POWERCHINA SPEM’s integrated box-type medium voltage transformers. The total amount of equipment accounts for more than 60% of the total contract amount. Chinese brands are taken to the Middle East market along with the project, providing solid support for the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.