Mitsui to join $4 bln Qatar water, power project-Nikkei

TOKYO, March 25 (Reuters) - Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co (8031.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will invest in a power and desalination project in Qatar expected to be worth more than 400 billion yen ($4 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

The report helped send shares of Mitsui up 3.8 percent to 1,999 yen as of 0122 GMT, outperforming the benchmark Nikkei average's .N225 0.9 percent gain.

Mitsui and a Belgian unit of French conglomerate Suez (LYOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will each take a 20 percent stake in a venture to oversee the project. State-run Qatar Petroleum and others will hold the remaining stake, the Nikkei said.

A Mitsui spokesman said an announcement on the project could come later on Tuesday, and declined to comment further.

The venture will manage the construction of power generating and water desalination facilities in the Ras Laffan Industrial City about 80 kilometres northeast of Doha, the Nikkei said.

Mitsui is expected to shoulder about 25 billion yen of the project investment, the newspaper said.

The power station is expected to have an output of 2.7 million killowatts, or the equivalent to two nuclear power plants, while the water facilities will be able to supply some 800,000 people with water for 25 years, the Nikkei said. (Reporting by Nathan Layne)