Nebras Power said it will invest $1.35bn in Indonesia’s Paiton project for producing electricity.
Chairman of Nebras Power Fahad bin Hamad al-Mohannadi, who is also general manager and managing director of Qatar Electricity and Water Co (QEWC), spoke exclusively to Qatar News Agency and said Nebras is currently pursuing investment opportunities in many projects outside of Qatar.
He said the company has been studying those projects for nearly three years, adding that a decision will be made on them soon. One of those projects is Indonesia’s Paiton, noting that countries with high levels of growth are the ones being considered by Nebras.
“This is not the case with countries that are facing an economic slowdown,” he added.
Al-Mohannadi said countries with high growth levels are likely to see rising demand for electricity in the future.
The best investment opportunities are available in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) member countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Oman. Nebras is looking to pursue opportunities in those countries, he said.
Other countries that have good opportunities, al-Mohannadi said, were South-East Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, The Philippines and Vietnam. A third region is the Arab Maghreb, he added.
Al-Mohannadi said QEWC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to harness solar energy in Qatar. This decision was taken, al-Mohannadi said, because QP believes that solar energy will make more LNG available for export.
He revealed that the two sides are working on establishing a new company, called Seraj Energy Company, in the first half of 2017 for producing electricity from solar energy. The company will focus on renewable sources in general and solar in particular amid the decline in global energy prices.
According to al-Mohannadi the cost of producing electricity from solar energy was 12 cents 5-6 years ago, but it has gone down to less than 3 cents today mainly due to cost-effective production of solar panels. Investing in solar energy holds tremendous potential in the future in Qatar and the region.
Al-Mohannadi said one of the better solar energy projects in terms of economic feasibility is the Ma’an solar plant in Jordan. Nebras is negotiating with the Jordanian government on establishing another solar plant in the country, he said.