Qatar Solar Energy (QSE) has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom to buy silicon, the raw material used to make solar panels, over the next ten years.

The company, which owns the largest solar technology development and manufacturing facility in the MENA region, secured the supply at an “extremely competitive fixed cost”.

QSE launched the facility in Doha in June and has contracted out its entire 300 MW production capacity to two companies in Thailand and Japan markets, however the company plans to become one of the world’s largest producers in the coming years.

“This partnership allows QSE to secure the entire value chain from raw material to smart-grid development and provides a powerful foundation from which QSE will further expand its production capacity to 2.5 GW,” said Salim Abbassi, CEO of QSE.

“Solar grade silicon from Kazatomprom will be used in the manufacture of QSE’s innovative products that are designed to perform in the most demanding environments present across the planet.

“QSE, when it reaches capacity of 2.5 GW, will make Qatar one of the largest producers of solar power in the world, contrasted with the total combined capacity of production in Europe and the US which currently stands at 3.4 GW,” he added.

Kazatomprom, the world’s largest producer of uranium, has been active in renewable energy since 2009, including the production of photovoltaic modules, ingots, wafers and cells and solar grade silicon production.