Qatar’s Ras Laffan C independent water and power project (IWPP) is expected to become fully operational in May or June this year.

Speaking at MEED’s Arabian Power & Water Summit 2011, Abdulsattar al-Rasheed of Qatar Electricity & Water Company (QEWC) said that the project, which will have a capacity of 2,730MW of power and 100 million gallons per day (MIGD) of water, is almost complete.

Ras Laffan C reached its $3.5bn financial close in August 2008. The financing comprised a commercial bank tranche, a Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) loan and a facility guaranteed by Italy’s Gruppo Sace along with a $250m Islamic loan.

Qatar currently has more power and water capacity than it needs. Abdulsattar al-Rasheed said that the reason behind this over-capacity was the global economic downturn. Prior to 2008, Qatar faced rising demand and was struggling to meet the utility needs of its people. Post crisis, the demand projections have been revised and the country has excess capacity.