Kuwait signs a contract with a Spanish company to produce solar energy

2015-09-13 2015-09-13T12:02:47Z

ArabiaWeather.com- Kuwait recently signed a contract with the Spanish company TSK to construct the first solar thermal power plant in Kuwait with a production capacity of 50 megawatts, at a cost of 116 million dinars ($383.9 million).

This step comes as part of the "Shagaya Renewable Energy" initiative, which is adopted and implemented by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

Minister of Public Works and Minister of Electricity and Water Ahmed Al-Jassar said, after signing the contract, that expectations indicate that the demand for electric energy in Kuwait will be 30 thousand megawatts per day in 2030. He explained that the government hopes that 15 percent of this amount will be produced from renewable energy, that is, by 4500 megawatts. It is expected that the new station will start its actual production and will be connected to the electricity grid in Kuwait in December 2017. The new project is in addition to two other projects previously signed by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to produce 10 megawatts of wind energy and another 10 of photovoltaic energy. Electricity in 2016. According to Al-Hayat newspaper.

The minister explained that Kuwait, after signing this contract, began the necessary steps to produce 70 megawatts of non-fossil energy, adding: "We have a great challenge ahead of us, and the road is long until we reach 4,500 megawatts of renewable energy."

Under this contract, the Spanish company will undertake the tasks of designing, constructing and operating the station, and it will be allocated to the production of electrical energy using solar thermal energy technology, which has the ability to store energy for ten hours to be used after sunset.

Those responsible for the project say that it does not need any type of fuel except sunlight, and it is expected that the station's production will be connected to the electrical grid by December 2017, when the actual operation of the station begins.