Kuwait to issue tender for construction of solar plant starting in first quarter of 2018
Kuwait will issue a tender to build the estimated US$1.2 billion Dibdibah solar power plant in the first quarter of 2018 as part of the country’s plans to produce 15 per cent of power from renewable energy by 2030.
Opec’s fifth-biggest oil producer set a September 7 deadline for companies to express interest in the 1 gigawatt project, said Shukri Al Mahrous, the deputy chief executive of planning and finance at Kuwait National Petroleum Company.
The cost will be about $1.2bn, he said, with Dibdibah producing half of the Kuwait’s planned renewable energy output.
Building solar plants is part of government efforts to help the environment while benefiting from increased production of petrochemicals and refined products.
Kuwait pumped 2.7 million barrels of crude per day in July, less than Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and the UAE, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“By freeing up the resources, the crude and fuel oil, you can process them and have a highly valued product,” Mr Al Mahrous said. “Everything you don’t use has value for the country.”
The 32-square-kilometre plant, which should be completed by the end of 2020 in Kuwait’s north-west, will save burning 5.2 million barrels of oil per year and reduce carbon emissions by 1.3 million tonnes annually, Mr Al Mahrous added.
Kuwait consumes at most 14 gigawatts of electricity a day, usually in the summer when temperatures can top 50°C, according to the ministry of electricity and water.
Capacity is 17 gigawatts. The oil industry is the biggest user of power in the country and plans to cover 15 per cent of its energy from renewables by 2020, beating the national target by 10 years, Mr Al Mahrous said.
Kuwait is building a 615,000 barrels-per-day refinery, a petrochemical plant and a receiving terminal for liquefied natural gas at Al Zour on the Arabian Gulf coast. The refinery will mainly produce low-sulphur fuel oil for use in power plants.
Kuwait is also upgrading its two existing refineries, known as the clean fuels project. That will allow for more products to be exported, Mr Al Mahrous said.
By freeing up the resources, the crude and fuel oil, you can process them and have a highly valued product