Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

New polysilicon production plant in Qatar

Qatar Solar Technologies has announced today that it will build a polysilicon facility worth US$1 billion in Ras Laffan Industrial City, north of Doha. The site is to occupy 1.2 million square meters of land in Ras Laffan.

The US$1 billion polysilicon facility will be situated in an industrial park just north of Doha, Qatar. Image: Qatar Solar Technologies

Qatar Solar Technologies or QSTec seeks to manufacture 8,000 metric tons of high-purity solar-grade polysilicon per year. Operations are scheduled to commence in the second half of 2013.

QSTec's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was given to Punj Llyod Group that is based in Gurgaon, India. Punj Lloyd won the contract based on a competitive bidding process and has a major presence in Qatar executing key EPC projects for the oil and gas sector. The contract to deliver technology and equipment had already been awarded to German solar company centrotherm photovoltaics.

Khalid K. Al Hajri, board member and ceo of QSTec said, "By utilizing Qatar’s resources today to make polysilicon, which in turn creates a variety of solar energy technologies and products, we are helping the global transformation towards a more diversified mix of clean energy solutions. In Qatar we have been blessed with energy both above and below surface. We have tapped the energy below the earth through our LNG exports and now we are looking to the sun with a vision to tapping its unlimited potential".