Qatar Solar Energy (QSE), the largest solar technology development and manufacturing facility in the MENA region, has signed a landmark agreement with Kazatomprom, a multi-billion dollar energy company based in the Republic of Kazakhstan. With this landmark agreement QSE has secured solar grade silicon, the raw material used to make solar panels, at an extremely competitive fixed cost for the next ten years.
The agreement puts Qatar in a leadership position in the market given that demand for raw polysilicon will continue to grow as the global need for solar energy increases exponentially in the near future. The agreement, which was signed by Salim Abbassi, CEO of QSE and Mr. Azat Betekbaev, Chairman of Kazatomprom's solar division, will also contribute to accelerating QSE's solar power purchase agreements (PPA) in Kazakhstan.
Kazatomprom, ranked as the world's largest producer of uranium, has been active in renewable energy since 2009. The company implements a number of high tech innovative projects in the sustainable energy sector including the production of photovoltaic modules (Astana Solar), the production of ingots, wafers and cells (Kazakhstan Solar Silicon) and solar grade silicon production (Kaz Silicon).
In a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, Mr. Abbassi commented on Kazakh national TV: "This partnership allows QSE to secure the entire value chain from raw material to smart-grid development and provides a powerful foundation from which QSE will further expand its production capacity to 2.5 GW."
"The steady supply of quality raw material is crucial to Qatar Solar Energy's mission to deliver on the promise of low cost and affordable renewable energy for populations across the world. Solar grade silicon from Kazatomprom will be used in the manufacture of QSE's innovative products that are designed to perform in the most demanding environments present across the planet. By lowering costs and increasing efficiency, QSE is accelerating the democratization of renewable energy worldwide," said Mr. Abbassi. "QSE is achieving this by combining research, development and manufacturing under one roof to form a fully integrated value chain. QSE, when it reaches capacity of 2.5 GW, will make Qatar one of the largest producers of solar power in the world, contrasted with the total combined capacity of production in Europe and the US which currently stands at 3.4 GW."
QSE is making remarkable strides having launched its solar technology research and production facility in the MENA region in June 2014 and the subsequent signing of this landmark agreement with Kazatomprom. QSE is quickly putting Qatar in a leadership position for both exporting innovative solar renewable energy technology products and knowledge transfer on high performance cells, modules, and smart-grid development.
QSE and Kazatomprom have also committed to deepening their mutual engagement in the form of knowledge-sharing and training to drive the solar industry forward. In September 2014, the first delegation of Kazatomprom engineers will travel to QSE headquarters in Qatar to initiate the knowledge-sharing engagement.
