Qatar moves forward in developing solar stadium cooling

Qatar is moving forward in developing efficient solar-powered cooling technology to counter the searing heat of the Arabian Gulf summer in its stadiums during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a senior organising committee official told Reuters.

Qatar World Cup Organising Committee (QWCOC) Communications and Marketing Director Nasser Al-Khater also said the tiny gulf state would construct its stadiums with modular technology so it could downscale them after the tournament, and donate seating to countries with little sports infrastructure.

Al-Khater told Reuters that Qatar already boasted the world's first cooled stadium, albeit with traditional energy sources. Temperatures in Qatar can reach more than 40 degrees Celsius in the summer months.

Al-Khater stated "we showed (world governing body) FIFA how the cooling technology works, it was warm outside but in stadium was cold they wanted their jackets so cooling a stadium is not the issue."

Qatar has promised to hold a carbon-neutral World Cup and so is researching solar-powered cooling technology. It will either create a central solar power farm or have individual ones installed in each of the 12 stadiums it is building, Al-Khater stated, adding "when you don't use it for the stadiums you feed it into the grid."

QWCOC developed a small, solar-powered prototype stadium seating 500 during the bid process but wants to develop more efficient technologies ahead of 2022.

Al-Khater stated "with solar, the big challenge is how do you deal with solar technology in the desert in terms of withstanding the elements and getting it clean so it is efficient."

Al-Khater said he hoped hosting the World Cup would further bolster Qatar's status as a sports hub in the region, concluding "Qatar is also a second home to many teams ... for example, it is home turf for Iraq for their (FIFA World Cup) qualifying matches."

According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Qatar is currently negotiating with FIFA to reduce the number of stadiums it builds for the 2022 World Cup. Citing rising costs, QWCOC is apparently looking to cut the number of stadiums it builds from 12 to eight or nine.

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