The Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) signed an agreement in Doha on Wednesday, October 24, under which it had acquired control over 10 percent of the $700-million Ras Laffan Power Project, a power generation and water desalination complex in the State of Qatar.
The agreement was signed between GIC and AES Ras Laffan Holdings, the project’s majority shareholder with a 55 percent equity interest, the government-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC), which hold 10 and 25 percent respectively, reported the official Emirati news agency WAM>.
GIC’s Chief Executive Hisham Razuqi said that this new investment is in line with the corporation’s new strategy, adopted earlier this year, aimed at promoting economic development in the Arabian Gulf region through principal investing in various ventures and projects.
The Ras Laffan project involves the development of a 750-megawatt electricity generation station, in addition to producing 40 million gallons of drinking water per day, based on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) system. The electricity generating capacity of the station is expected to reach a maximum of 1,400 megawatts over the next 25 years.
AES expects the power plant to be fully operational by May 2004, with partial electric deliveries available as early as March 2003. The water plant will go into operation by May 2004. Both will serve Qatar's residential and industrial electricity needs. The project is to be built at Qatar Petroleum's Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC), north of the capital Doha.
The sole purchaser of the electric output from the plant will be the State-owned electric and water distribution organization, KAHRAMMA, under a long-term power and water purchase agreement. Qatar Petroleum will supply natural gas to the power plant and will build a common seawater facility at RLIC for seawater supply. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
