Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) invites developers to submit expressions of interest for the development of 1.5 GW Khazna solar farm, according to a statement. Developers would have to express their interest in constructing, financing, operating, maintaining and owning the solar plant before 2 October 2023. Ewec would be the sole offtaker of solar power generated under a long-term PPA. The company also plans to commission at least two other 1.5 GW solar projects to achieve the company’s target to add an average of 1 GW of solar capacity per year in the next decade, CEO Othman Al Ali says in the statement.

About the solar farm: The Khazna Solar Photovoltaic Power Project is a greenfield solar power project with a generation capacity of 1.5 GW expected to be similar in scale and production capacity to Al-Dhafra Solar PV and Al-Ajban Solar PV. Once fully operational the project is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by over 2.4 mn tonnes per year –this is equivalent to removing about 470,000 cars from the road.

REMEMBER- Ewec received four bids from Saudi renewables giant Acwa Power, France’s EDF Renewables, Japan’s Marubeni Corporation, and a consortium comprising Jinko Power and Jera for the development of its third solar power project last July boosting the company’s total solar power capacity up to 4 GW.

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Qatar plans to upscale its EV capacity with help from Germany’s EcoTransit: Qatar’s Transport Minister Jassim Al-Sulaiti has signed three agreements with German sustainable mobility solutions firm EcoTransit to boost EV adoption across the country, according to a statement. The German firm also signed an agreement with Sia Eco to jointly establish EV charging points and signed another agreement with an unnamed developer in the Philippines to import 600 EV buses into Qatar, with plans to later increase import volumes to 50k EVs of the same model over the next 10 years. Qatar-based Al Hamad Automobiles also signed a partnership agreement with EcoTransit to become their authorized EV dealer. Earlier in June, the German-based company unveiled its first all-electric vehicle offering in the country, which is in part designed by Qataris.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Qatar has a plan for regulating autonomous vehicles: Qatar has announced a five-year strategy for regulating the use of self-driving vehicles as part of the state’s QNV 2030 plan, and says the country’s reliance on all-electric buses for public transport has increased to 70% compared to combustion engine alternatives in Q3 2023. (Zawya)
• Oman’s waste sector could bring in big money: Oman’s waste recycling sector has an economic potential worth RO 400 mn (some USD 1 bn), an assessment by Oman’s state-owned solid waste management firm Be’ah found. The country generates some 2.4 mn tons of recyclable waste per year. (Oman Observer)
• Oman cloud seeding increases rainfall by up to 18%: Oman’s efforts to stimulate and increase rainfall in the country via cloud seeding resulted in an estimated 15-18% increase in precipitation levels between 2013-2018. (Times of Oman)