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Several foreign companies have offered to invest in power projects in Kuwait to offset an expected supply shortage, but no decision has been taken by the authorities yet, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The cabinet has authorised the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy to sign contracts with foreign developers for renewable and conventional power projects to avert the supply deficit, which could increase by 5-6 percent annually from 2024, the Arabic language daily Alqaas said, quoting official sources.
The report said projects proposed by global developers would ensure power supplies at prices below the current production costs in the OPEC member.
The projects include solar power plants with capacities in between 200 megawatts (MW) and 1,500 MW, energy supply vessels with a capacity of 450 MW each, gas-run engines, energy storage facilities and conventional power plants.
“The Electricity and Water Ministry has not taken a decision in this respect yet despite approval by the cabinet,” the report said.
According to the report, an expected supply shortage next summer would be covered by the GCC power grid, to which Kuwait is linked.
The paper quoted the sources as saying the domestic electricity network is expected to be short of needs by around 700 MW next summer and the gap is projected to widen to 2,000 MW in the summer of 2025 and over 2,500 MW in 2026.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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