Qatar is rich in oil and natural gas, but it has adopted a ‘don’t get high on your own supply’ policy since 2017 and started diversifying with solar.

Now Tesla deployed Powerpack batteries at the country’s first solar and storage project.

The Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) described it as “a pilot project to store electrical energy using batteries.”

“The Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) launched the first pilot project to store electrical energy using batteries in the State of Qatar, in cooperation with Al Attiyah Group and Tesla Incorporation, where the batteries were connected to a substation connected to the local Nuaija station on a voltage of 11 kV, and are controlled by the Control Center of Distribution Control Center.”

They are using Tesla Powerpacks for a total 1 MW/4 MWh capacity.

The electric utility says that it will use the Tesla batteries to flatten peak demand:

“This pioneering project, the first of its kind in Qatar to store energy using batteries, aims to secure production capacity at peak times to raise energy efficiency and enhance sustainability.”

Kahramaa says that if the project proves successful, it will potentially deploy batteries in large projects:

The use of energy storage systems in power grids (batteries) is considered one of the global systems to raise energy efficiency and enhance sustainability. The importance of the success of this pilot project lies in opening new prospects and avenues to engage in larger projects in the future by connecting them to some high-load stations in the network, and integrating them with KAHRAMAA’s strategic projects for renewable energy, such as Al Kharsaah Solar Power Project.

Qatar recently green-lit a big 800 MW solar project and it is deploying solar power at a faster pace.

Tesla is also accelerating energy storage deployment with more than 400 MWh being deployed every quarter.

The company also has a significant backlog of large energy storage projects using its more recent Megapack.

This is a rare new deployment of Tesla’s Powerpack, which is used for smaller commercial and utility projects.