The new Ras Laffan C power and desalination plant has officially opened in Qatar.

The 286,000m²/d seawater desalination plant was built by Sidem for the Mitsui Bahrain consortium under an engineering, procurement and construction contract awarded in 2008.

The plant uses a multieffect distillation / thermal vapour compression process.

Sidem was also commissioned to build ten desalination units of 28,640m²/d each.

A consortium of GDF Suez, through International Power, Mitsui & Co, Chubu Electric Power and Shikoku Electric Power own 40% of the project while the remaining 60% is held by the state of Qatar.

The water will be sold through a 25-year power and water purchase agreement with Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation.