LONDON: Qatar is set to announce a $4 billion investment in UK green energy development through the establishment of a research hub, the Sunday Times reported.
The nonprofit Qatar Foundation is providing the funding, with Rolls-Royce supplying technical knowledge as part of the deal.
Global management consultancy McKinsey is also involved in planning the project, which Qatar has committed to funding for 20 years.
The deal aims to encourage UK startups to remain in the country through $1.5 billion of seed funding, as well as create a “base” around London, Cambridge and Oxford to entice international talent.
Through Project Oryx, which the plan is labeled internally, about 7,500 jobs will be created by 2030, with green research companies set to employ 30,000 people within 15 years, McKinsey said.
One official involved in the project said: “The purpose is to scale up these projects to the level where they can be floated here in the UK, rather than losing our best ideas overseas at their early stage.”
A fund manager working on the project said: “We are in conversations with a number of early-stage companies ... The idea is to find the brightest brains in the UK, and attract the brightest brains in the world to come and join them here.”
A research facility will also be established in Qatar’s capital Doha as part of the investment deal. The project aims to encourage research in green aircraft fuel, carbon capture and storage, and long-term energy storage.
The Qatar Foundation said: “We continue to work alongside Rolls-Royce to develop new, leading climate tech ventures and technology hubs, both in the UK and Qatar.”
