Factories in Kuwait shift gears to combat energy overload

• The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy reviewed the possible solutions that factories may resort to in order to rationalize electricity consumption in light of the increased loads this summer.
• Power outages affected limited parts of the Farwaniya area in the afternoon due to emergency maintenance on the main transfer station (Al-Omaria A). Additionally, four plots in the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area experienced power cuts due to emergency maintenance work.

While the GCC Interconnection Authority continues to support the national grid with 840 megawatts, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy exceeded the programmed ‘manual’ cutoff on Sunday. This cutoff was limited to certain agricultural and industrial areas to reduce the load on the current consumption, which recorded approximately 16,620 megawatts.

The programmed, manual cut-off included the Wafra and Abdali Al-Rawdatain farms starting at 12 noon for two hours, before later extending to four industrial areas (Abdullah Port, Subhan, Al-Rai, and Shuwaikh).

Additionally, power was cut off to limited parts of the Farwaniya area in the afternoon due to emergency maintenance of the main transfer station (Al-Omaria A), and to four plots in the Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh area due to emergency maintenance work.

Dr. Mahmoud Boushahri, the Minister of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy, and the Minister of State for Housing Affairs, inspected the Al-Zour South Station to check on the progress of work after a limited fire that did not affect production. He and Engineer Haitham Al-Ali, the Assistant Undersecretary for the Electrical Power and Water Distillation Plants Sector, who accompanied him, reviewed the measures taken and monitored the entry of the units into the electrical network.

On a related note, the coordination discussion session between the Ministry of Electricity, the Public Authority for Industry, the Federation of Kuwaiti Industries, and factory owners and officials resulted in an agreement on a number of options to reduce loads. These options include reducing the industrial sector’s consumption by 30 to 40 percent during peak times and shifting work to beyond peak hours, which are between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., taking into account factories whose production lines are difficult to stop.

During the meeting at the headquarters of the Industry Authority, the possible solutions that factories may resort to in order to rationalize electricity consumption in light of the increased loads this summer were reviewed.

Engineer Muhammad Al-Adwani, the acting Director General of the authority, called on factory owners to take the necessary measures in response to the increased load rate. It was also revealed that inspections of factories would be halted during the new working hours until the end of the summer, based on the changing work shifts.

He mentioned coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, the Public Authority for Manpower, and other relevant parties to ensure that no factory violates the working hours stipulated by law. He emphasized the positive role of factories and their cooperation in facing the difficulties and challenges of increasing electrical loads.

For his part, Engineer Falah Al-Mutairi, the Undersecretary of Services at the Ministry of Electricity, said that the Ministry does not have a schedule of programmed cutting dates, and that high loads are known about an hour in advance. This means that scheduling and organizing the cuts between factories seems to be an unrealistic option.