Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) has closed the financing agreement for the construction of a $1bn polysilicon manufacturing plant in Ras Laffan Industrial City.

QSTech said the financing was secured locally by Doha-based bank Masraf al-Rayan by the agreement signed on 29 May.

The company is expected to complete the project in the second quarter of 2013. The plant will have the capacity to produce 8,000 tonnes a year of polysilicon – a key component in the construction of solar panels.

Indian group Punj Lloyd won the front-end engineering design (feed) and engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for the project, with Germany’s Centrotherm Voltaics acting as the consultant.