Qatar's National Development Strategy will see US$107bn invested in the private nonhydrocarbons sector, which will ensure that a steady stream of capital flows into the critical infrastructure sectors over the next decade – including water. However, we do not see massive increases in water desalination output above and beyond what has already been commissioned, so successful has the country been at bringing new capacity onstream to keep pace with growing demand. A major new independent water and power project (IWPP) was commissioned in Q211 while the 63mn gallons per day (g/d) Ras Girtas (Ras Laffan) IWPP is now in line for an expansion that will see its capacity increase to 88mn g/d by 2014. The Qatar Water and Electricity Corporation (Kahramaa) has shown strong project capabilities and as Moody's attests – the ratings agency assigned it a first-time long-term local currency issuer rating of A1, with a stable outlook – the utility is in a strong position. This position is bolstered by a beneficial contractual framework that reduces its exposure to regulatory, demand and price risks Key themes to highlight for Qatar's water sector include:
- Qatar is facing no serious obstacles in meeting water demand over the forecast period, and will only need relatively limited new desalination capacity as a result of a series of projects that are underway in the emirate. We see desalinated water production growing from nearly 80,000mn gallons in 2011 to over 100,000mn gallons by 2015.
- Ashghal has invited bids – to be received by mid-October 2011 – for the phase-two construction of the Al-Garaffa area sewerage network, covering around 6 square kilometres (km2) near Doha. The successful bidder will build a network that drains sewage from the catchment area and transfers it to a pumping station.
- Public private partnerships (PPPs) have been so successful that state utility Kahramaa now estimates it will only need 40mn g/d of new desalination capacity by 2015. Private means of developing wastewater projects have also been pursued with greater vigour..
Qatar's level of per capita household water use is one of the world's highest, with residents consuming an average of 310 litres each day, more than double the average for Western European countries. Fresh groundwater drawn from natural aquifers accounts for about 36% of water use, but there are efficiency problems. An estimated 250mn cubic metres per year (m3/y) of groundwater is extracted, five times the 50mn m3/y of freshwater recharge that comes from Qatar's rainfall. Desalinated water losses due to leaks are also high by international standards. There is now a 2013 target to cut leaks of desalinated water to 10% or less, from the current estimate of 30-35%.
Click for Report details:Qatar Water Report Q4 2011
