In a press conference this week, the CEO of Energy City Qatar (ECQ), Hesham al-Emadi, expressed confidence that the $2.6 billion project will be completed by 2012, despite some delays last year due to the economic downturn and rising cost of raw materials, the Qatari Tribune reported.
ECQ is touted as the Middle East’s first energy business center designed to exclusively cater to the commercial, technical and human resource needs of global and regional energy companies. The project will encompass 1.2 square kilometers and employ as many as 20,000 people.
Al-Emadi said that infrastructure work is slated to be finalized by the end of this year, with about 60% of the project to be completed by the end of 2011, the Qatari daily reported.
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) announced this week that it has signed a 16-year contract with ECQ to support an advanced data center for the project’s tenants. The data center is also on schedule to be operational in 2012.
As previously reported in the Green Prophet, Energy City Qatar features an “all-green” design including unique solar paneling and cooling systems. The Qatari Tribune notes that the project will incorporate “multiple sustainable technologies to achieve a LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] Gold certification” – including thin-film PV modules, wind towers and passive solar shading, as well as “indigenous landscaping and other environmentally sensitive design strategies.”
Author: Ira Moskowitz
When his kids were small, Ira would point to litter on the ground and tell them: “That makes me angry!” He still gets angry about pollution, waste and abusive treatment of our world, but is encouraged by the growing awareness of environmental issues and has been following the latest developments in cleantech with great interest. Ira grew up in the green hills of western Massachusetts and moved to Israel in the early 1980s after completing an MA in Middle Eastern Studies. He has worked as a software developer and journalist, and translates works of Hebrew fiction and non-fiction to English. Ira is trying to age gracefully, but refuses to surrender his youthful belief in the potential for change, including a collaborative future for the peoples of the Middle East. To contact Ira, email ira (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Really its amazing I m interested in working here
Is this really going to follow LEED practices. Reason for asking I spoke to an architect who is in Qatar building and she told me (and I stress this was a general statement) that Qatar wasn't interested in really building green.