Kuwait plans $650m solar power project

16 June 2010

Integrated solar combined power plant will have a capacity of 250MW

Kuwait plans to build a new $650m solar power plant as part of its public-private partnership (PPP) development programme, officials say.

The Energy and Water Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding to build a new integrated solar combined cycle power plant in the emirate with Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corporation in 2008. The the pair are currently working on studies for the 250MW scheme along with Kuwait’s PPP development body, Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB).

According to government officials, a site for the plant is being chosen in the remote Abdaleyah area in eastern Kuwait, and final selection should be complete by mid-July. The PTB wants to issue a tender to build the plant, which it values at $650m, by the end of the year.

The PTB was set up in 2008 to help government ministries and companies work on a series of new PPP schemes, which are at the heart of the emirate’s plans for economic development.

It is in the process of tendering its first major project, a $2.5-3bn independent power and water plant at Al-Zour, and plans to send out bid documents on 24 June (MEED 3:6:10).

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