Kuwait set to issue tender for solar power plant

Kuwait plans to call a tender next year for a solar energy plant, and aims for five percent of total supply from renewable energy by 2020, an official told the state news agency on Wednesday.

"Solar energy in Kuwait is promising and various projects will benefit from it," Kuna quoted the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity and Water, Meshaan al-Otaibi, as saying.

Otaibi did reveal the intended capacity of the plant.

"The state hopes to provide 5 percent of its energy requirement through such technology by the year 2020," he added.

Kuwait, an OPEC member, has one of the world's highest per capita power consumption rates, and has said it plans to boost power capacity to around 16,000 megawatts from 10,000 MW by 2012.

The world's fourth-largest oil exporter is facing rising energy demand and has experienced power cuts, especially during the hot summer months when air conditioning use rises.

In February, Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told daily newspaper al-Watan that the country was considering developing nuclear power with the help of a French firm to meet demand for electricity and water desalination.

Kuwait, which has six power stations that also desalinate water, has signed a $2.65 billion deal last month with General Electric Co and Hyundai Heavy Industries to build and operate the 2,000 megawatts Subbiya power plant in the north of the country.

However, a long-running standoff between parliament and the government of the Gulf Arab state has derailed energy expansion plans as major contracts have been scrapped or delayed.

Kuwait knocked investor confidence when it dropped a $17.4 billion petrochemical joint venture with Dow Chemical in December, a month after signing it, due to criticism in parliament.

Parliament, which has a history of challenging the government, has to approve major business deals. (Reuters)

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM