Qatar Energy announced on Tuesday that its affiliate QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions, has awarded the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for its Industrial Cities (IC) solar power project to South Korea’s Samsung C&T.

The approximately 2.3 billion Qatari riyal ($632 million) IC Solar project, which consists of two large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants with a combined capacity of 875 megawatts (MW), is Qatar’s second utility-scale solar project after the 800 MWp Al Kharsaa Solar PV Independent Power Plant (IPP), which is currently under construction.

The project’s power generation capacity is strategically distributed between the two main industrial cities in Qatar, Mesaieed Industrial City (MIC) and Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC), Qatar Energy said in a press statement.

The MIC plant will have a capacity of 417 MW while the one in RLIC will have a capacity of 458 MW, the statement said, adding that the two plants, spread over a combined area of 10 square kilometres, are expected to start electricity production by the end of 2024.

The statement noted that the IC Solar project will increase Qatar’s renewable energy generation capacity to 1.675 gigawatts (GW).

Qatar is targeting 5 GW of solar generated power by 2035.

The statement also said the output of both plants will contribute to the reduction of QatarEnergy’s GHG footprints from its facilities in RLIC and MIC, mainly its NFE and NFS LNG expansion projects, in addition to expanding grid capacity in other locations.