Abstract
Qatar is a small country in terms of population, but it is one of the
world’s largest water consumers on a
per capita basis. More than
half of the country’s water goes to the agricultural sector, but
increasing
demand is coming from the country’s growing urban
population.
It is a country with limited and declining groundwater
resources, and the state is therefore investing
heavily in desalination
plants. It has one of the longest standing programmes in the Middle East and
so
has garnered much experience in the sector.
Much of the expansion
in Qatar’s desalination programme is being achieved through independent
water
and power projects (IWPPs). The largest of these is the Ras Girtas
project currently under construction in
the Ras Laffan industrial complex.
A further IWPP is said to be under consideration.
The country has been
open to foreign investment for several years and is regarded as a relatively
safe
investment destination, with major international companies currently
active in the sector. The US$3.9bn
Ras Girtas project managed to achieve
its funding goals in mid-2008, despite the already rocky state of
international capital markets, indicating investor confidence.
Qatar will
need to build on this reputation to attract more funding and technical
know-how, as it will need
to expand its water supply, wastewater treatment
and power capacity over the next five years if output is
to keep ahead of
growing demand.
The Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) is the
state’s main investment vehicle in the water
and power sectors. The
government holds a 43% stake in QEWC, with the rest held by private and
public
investors.
QEWC is involved in many of the large projects
taking place in the country and so is a key partner for
other investors.
It now owns and manages almost 1bn cubic metres per day (m3/d) of water
capacity and
nearly 3GW of power output. It also has interests in IWPPs
producing some 750,000 m3/d of water and
more than 6GW of power. When Ras
Girtas becomes operational in 2011, the country will have around
1.4mn
m3/d of desalinated water capacity, as well as power generating capacity of
9GW.
The water sector is regulated by the Qatar General Electricity and
Water Corporation (Kahramaa),
which was established in 2000 as an
independent corporation operating on a commercial basis. Kahramaa
also
owns projects and develops strategy for the sector. Kahramaa is also
responsible for setting water
tariffs, which have been heavily subsidised
for decades. There has been some talk of making them more
representative
of costs, but little action has been taken on this front yet.
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