Subbiya project key to solve power crisis in coming years

This news has been read 6041 times!

Load index almost towards maximum

KUWAIT CITY, July 23: In light of fears of a gradual increase in power consumption and with the load index almost towards the maximum last Monday in the country’s history reaching 16,370 megawatts, officials of the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy are developing plans to avoid a shortage of electric power during the next three summer seasons, especially since consumption rates are increasing year after year between 3 to 4 percent annually, reports Al-Rai daily. According to the ministry “the options available are very limited, most notably continuing the procedures for importing 600 megawatts from the Gulf network, and working intensively to spread the culture of rationalization, both of which will not work in light of the ministry’s continuation in delivering current to new housing cities and development projects, which puts the ministry in a very tight position.”

However, sources close to the ministry said, “The last solution that can avoid the ministry falling into an electricity cri- Claire Le Flécher, French Ambassador to Kuwait sis lies in the implementation of the Subbiya project, which is represented by the supply, installation, operation, and maintenance of gas turbine units operating in the combined cycle system (the fourth phase) with a capacity of 900 megawatts and later 250 megawatts until the northern Az-Zour projects (the second phase) and Al-Khairan (the first phase) begin operations,” warning that “any delay in the implementation of these projects means the ministry will face imminent crisis.”

State of emergency
The sources pointed out that the ministry declared a state of emergency a few days ago, following the partial ‘breakdown’ of two units in the northern Al-Zour station (the first phase), and saved the situation by importing 540 megawatts from the Gulf intercontinental network, stressing the need to implement projects without delay, otherwise the programmed power cut will be an “order of the day” for the ministry, especially in the summers of 2025 and 2026. The sources pointed to the Ministry’s commitment to deliver the power supply to the new residential areas, which will lead to an increase in the annual consumption rate by 6 percent, compared to the annual increase that ranges between 3 to 4 percent, which confirms the importance of the Ministry’s urgency with its projects, until the implementation of the projects that will be offered through the Public- Private Partnership Projects Authority.

This news has been read 6041 times!