Wise leadership ‘has helped in moving steadily to achieve QNV 2030 goals’

The President of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corp (Kahramaa) Engineer Essa bin Hilal al-Kuwari affirmed that His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s speech at the opening of the 48th session of the Shura Council was comprehensive and addressed all internal and external issues and challenges, and it represents a platform for the next phase.Al-Kuwari praised His Highness the Amir’s speech, saying that it reflects the keenness of the wise leadership to pursue development plans despite any challenges, and the Amir highlighted the success of the state in overcoming the negative effects of the blockade and moving steadily towards achieving the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030), despite the continuing unjust blockade imposed on the State of Qatar for the third year in a row, thanks to the calm and determined approach pursued by the leadership in managing the crisis.He added that by this occasion Kahramaa reiterates its commitment to continue to work towards achieving water security and providing sufficient electrical energy to accelerate development and provide infrastructure to serve the overall development witnessed by the State, as electricity and water are the basis of infrastructure for any economic development.The Kahramaa president added that 2018 witnessed the launching of Umm Alhoul power plant, which increased the production capacity of the State of Qatar by about 30% and water by about 40%, which contributes to secure the requirements of the economic and urban renaissance witnessed by the State of Qatar.Al-Kuwari stressed that Kahramaa’s work comes within the directives of the Amir to achieve economic diversification and good management of resources while preserving the environment in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 within the pillars of economic and environmental development, to diversify the sources of energy production and increase the proportion of renewable energy.He added that in this regard, Kahramaa received the offers of qualified international developers to establish the first solar power plant in the State of Qatar to produce electricity with photovoltaic technology on an area of 10sq km, where the total capacity of the solar project is estimated at least 700 megawatts, and 350 megawatts will be connected to the grid as a first phase before the end of 2020 to achieve the strategic objective stated in the National Development Strategy 2018-2022.The Kahramaa president stated that the national programme “Tarsheed”, launched by Kahramaa in 2012 under the patronage of the Amir, has succeeded in reducing 6295 GW of electricity and 33.22mn cubic metres of water, 3.66mn tonnes of harmful carbon emissions, reduced natural gas consumption by 60.642mn cu ft and saving QR1.75bn by the end of the first year of its second phase.He added that in terms of water security, Kahramaa launched the major strategic water reservoirs project at the end of 2018, in five different locations.The project includes 15 water reservoirs, the largest in the world with a capacity of about 100mn gallons per tank, in addition to the extension of approximately 650km of water pipelines of large diameters of different size linking between these reservoirs and desalination plants at a cost of QR14.5.His Excellency added that the project succeeded in adding about 1,500mn gallons of storage capacity, which increases the water reserve by 155%, and covers storage needs until 2026.The project aims to contribute to food security by providing a safe and balanced water supply to meet the growing needs of the population.He pointed out that Kahramaa has succeeded in becoming a financially sustainable institution with a significant improvement in the financial performance during the last period, and thus its strategic plans became based on financial sustainability, as part of the Government’s efforts to reduce expenditures without affecting priority projects.The Kahramaa president stressed the company’s commitment to work on completing the infrastructure projects in the electricity and water sectors, which serve vital projects in the country, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup projects, in addition to Doha Metro projects, in which Kahramaa has committed to implement five stations at a cost of QR900mn.On the provision of services, the Kahramaa president added that the State of Qatar has made progress in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 report, which reflects Kahramaa’s efforts in this regard through innovative initiatives and solutions that have contributed to improving the experience of investors and contractors, adding that the coming period will witness a qualitative leap in subscriber services with the announcement of a package of premium services, which will facilitate the procedures and increase the satisfaction of subscribers.Al-Kuwari renewed Kahramaa’s commitment in light of the support of our wise government to remain an active and essential partner for all comprehensive development plans and programmes in the country, and implementing the speech of His Highness the Amir during the opening of the 48th session of the Shura Council, by working to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030 and the goals of the National Development Strategy 2018-2022.