HE Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior laid Tuesday the cornerstone of the Strategic Mega Reservoirs Project to secure water supplies in Qatar.

The event was held by Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation. HE Minister of Energy and Industry gave a speech to mark the occasion and said that the project reflected Qatar's commitment to developing its water resources. His Excellency added that such commitment is part of Qatar's development plan under the leadership of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and HE Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani.

HE the Minister added that the State was keen on enhancing its water resources as part of Qatar National Vision 2030 and in light of the population growth and economic growth in industrial, commerce and economic sectors. As a result, HH the Emir issued a decision to establish the Permanent Water Resources Committee which is charged with developing a strategy for operating and enhancing the country's water resources.

The project comes within KAHRAMAA plans to increase Qatar water strategic storage and ensure water supply to all areas as per KAHRAMAA mission of Providing High Quality and Sustainable Electricity and Water for Better Living in Qatar. The strategic project of the mega reservoirs is considered the largest expansion of Qatar water storage ever. It aims to increase Qatar water strategic storage till 2026 (first stage). The projects consists of 24 reservoirs at a total capacity of 2273 Million Gallons. The project includes the installation of 650 km pipelines with large diameters to form a spine joining all the key desalination plants together at the five specific reservoirs sites. The project consists of 24 reservoirs in five different sites at a total cost of QR 17 billion.

HE the Minister of Energy said that in addition to the reservoirs, there was a large network of pipes that the project will establish. His Excellency noted that when completed, this project will triple Qatar's current water reservoir and surely cover future demand for water.

For his part, President of Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari said that Qatar National Vision 2030 is the main target of all the corporation's projects. He added that Kahramaa has estimated all the country's future water needs up to the year 2026 and placed a work plan regarding the projects needed to produce water meeting that estimated demand.

He added that the project, which aims to increase the strategic reservoir of water, consists of 24 reservoirs at a total capacity of 2273 Million Gallons. As a result, the total reservoir of water in Qatar would become 3500 million gallons.

Furthermore, one of the key characteristics of the project was that its design enables the installation of solar panels on the roofs. This would allow using the roofs to create electricity. He noted however that the idea of using solar power was only taken into account in the design but will only operate once they were deemed economically feasible.