Qatar orders huge new power, desalination plants

Tokyo - Qatar will have one of the biggest power plants and desalination plants in the Middle East according to an agreement signed with Mitsubishi and Tokyo Electric Power Co, the two Japanese companies said on Monday.

The two firms agreed with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) on a 25-year power and water purchase agreement.

The companies will build and run the 2 400MW power station and the water desalination plant, which will have a capacity of 590 000 cubic metres per day, near Qatar's capital Doha, they said.

The plants would become operational in 2017 under the agreement.

Tokyo Electric has faced severe problems in Japan as the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, which suffered a triple meltdown caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.