Qatar Petroleum (QP) is looking to raise $2.5 billion to help finance construction of the country's largest power plant, a person familiar with the matter said.

QP is looking to raise the funds by the end of March, said the person.

Royal Bank of Scotland is advising QP, which is a shareholder along with Qatar Water & Electricity in the project to build the 2,600 megawatt plant at Ras Laffan on Qatar's northeast coast, said bankers and contractors familiar with the matter.

The Ras Laffan C plant will also have the capacity to produce 55 million gallons per day of desalinated water.

Britain's International Power, Japan's Marubeni Corp and France's Suez SA are leading three groups that have bid to develop and part-own the plant, said an official at Qatar's General Electricity & Water Corp (Kahramaa).

Kahramaa will buy the plant's output.

The winning group will take a 40 percent stake in the project, with the remainder split between QP and Qatar Water & Electricity.

'Qatar Petroleum is handling the financing,' said the Kahramaa official.

'It has the experience in raising money.' The development may be awarded next month, he said.

Qatar, holder of the world's third-largest natural gas reserves, wants to triple electricity output from about 3,500 megawatts last year to meet soaring demand, driven by population and industrial growth. Reuters