Kuwait seeks bids for 70-MW solar park - report

Jun 13, 2013 - Kuwait has invited proposals for the construction of a 70-MW solar park, Agence France Presse (AFP) said yesterday citing Salem al-Hajraf -- energy research head at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

As many as 37 tie-ups out of the 107 bidders have been pre-qualified to bid for the project, which has to be completed by 2016, according to Salem al-Hajraf. The photovoltaic (PV) complex will be situated in a desert zone close to the borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Although Salem al-Hajraf did not provide any financial details on the project, he was cited as saying that it would be funded by the government of Kuwait.

The tender is the first part of the country's plan to produce 2,000 MW of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030, equal to 15% of its total energy mix. The second and third phases envisage the addition of 930 MW and 1,000 MW of renewable capacity, respectively by 2030. Renewable energy facilities in the second and third parts of the tender will be installed on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, operating under 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the government.

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