Kuwait hit by expanded power cuts in fuel glitch

PHOTO

KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy on Sunday announced that regrettably, it might have to cut off electricity in some areas with heavy electricity consumption to maintain the stability of the country’s electrical system.

This is the aftermath of the disruption of gas supplies that led to the failure of several power generation units in Subiya and West Doha power plants on Sunday. A total of 42 areas experienced power outage as follows: Rabia, Fahaheel, Raqqi, Rehab, Abu Halifa, Mahboula, Sabahiya, Saad Al-Abdullah, Jaber Al-Ali, Sulaibikhat, Sabah Al-Salem, Mangaf, Ali Sabah Al-Salem (Umm Al-Hayman), Abdullah Al-Mubarak, West Abdullah Mubarak, Jaber Al-Ahmad, South Jahra, Fahad Al-Ahmad, Hadiya, Salmiya, East Hawally, Khaitan, Funaitees, Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Hawally, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential City, Omariya, Farwaniya, Old Jahra, Abu Fatira, Abdullah Port, Subhan, Amghara Scrapyard, Sulaibiya Industrial Area, Rai, Shuwaikh Industrial Area, Abdally, Wafra, Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential City and Sabah Al-Ahmad Coastal Area.

The ministry affirmed that updates regarding the electricity network will be announced through its official social media accounts. It called on the public to strictly comply with its instructions on the rationalization of electricity consumption during peak hours — from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Meanwhile, the acting Undersecretary of the ministry Eng. Haitham Al-Ali explained that the ministry decided to cut off power in some residential areas due to the disruption of gas supplies; such that some units in Subiya and West Doha stations went out of service. He affirmed the concerned employees are exerting tremendous efforts to immediately resume the operation of the affected units. In a televised statement on Sunday, Al-Ali pointed out that the power disruption coincided with the high temperature that reached 46.5 degrees Celsius and the humidity; indicating the temperature at the same time last year was 37.5 degrees Celsius. “We are hoping for a resumption of the operation of the affected units and improvement of the situation within the next 24 hours,” he stressed. He said the ministry started to cut off power in factories and farms, then some parts of certain residential areas within an hour to two to mitigate the impact. “We will announce the areas that will experience a power cut to give time for the affected citizens and expatriates to be ready, especially concerning elevators or providing a charger for some devices,” he added.

He clarified that the quality of gas supplying the stations has improved compared to the situation on Saturday, but its effects remain, as some units are still out of service. “In this hot weather, they suffer from malfunction, but we are working hard to fix the malfunction and return the situation to normal within 24 hours,” he concluded.