Kuwait to open tender for 1.1-GW solar project in 2023

Kuwait is preparing to kick off a tender for the first phase of the 4.5-GW Shagaya solar project in the next two to three months, a government official said during a webinar organised by the Middle East Solar Industry Association (MESIA).

The first phase of the massive project will add 1,100 MW of capacity and will solely utilise photovoltaics. The document for the request for qualifications (RFQ) for this phase is ready and will be issued in two to three months, Ghannam Alajmi from the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said.

The second phase will feature a 200-MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant with a storage capacity of about five hours. Phase three will be 1,500 MW solar PV and the last phase will add 1,700 MW, Alajmi explained.

He noted that the technology for each project phase has been chosen after a thorough assessment. Solar energy is preferred to wind power because wind turbines are more efficient at night while peak demand in Kuwait is between 10 am and 2 pm, Alajmi noted.

Shagaya is a key element in the Gulf country's ambition to reach 15% renewables in its power mix by 2030.

The Shagaya Renewable Energy Park is already home to a 50-MW CSP plant commissioned in December 2018, a 10-MW wind farm commissioned in May 2017, and a 10-MW PV park. The three facilities were developed by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) in partnership with Spanish company TSK and Kuwait’s Kharafi National under an EPC contract awarded in 2015.

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