Kuwait approves $83.5 million project to link Wafra and Sabah Al-Ahmad stations

• The Al-Wafra station would increase the electrical capacity of the Gulf interconnection network from 1,000 to 2,500 MWs, benefiting the Kuwait network by compensating for part of the electricity shortage.

The SAI approved the Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy’s request to directly contract with the GCC Electricity Interconnection Authority to establish two overhead power lines from the new Wafra station to the Sabah Al-Ahmad 3z and 4z stations, with a project cost of $83.5 million, according to Al Rai newspaper.

Informed sources in the ministry explained that “the benefit of establishing the two overhead power lines is to transfer electricity from the Wafra station, expected to be completed next December, to the two Sabah Al-Ahmad stations. The Wafra plant will connect the Saudi electricity network to the Kuwait electricity network, from which the Gulf network will be linked to Iraq.”

They also noted that the operation of the Al-Wafra station would increase the electrical capacity of the Gulf interconnection network from 1,000 to 2,500 megawatts, benefiting the Kuwait network by compensating for part of the electricity shortage. This will occur after the completion of the project to establish the two overhead lines, expected to take 16 months from the signing of the contract between the ministry and the Gulf Electricity Interconnection Authority.

Additionally, the latest report from the Statistics Department at the Ministry of Electricity, Water, and Renewable Energy for November revealed that the Kuwait electricity grid exported 18,133 MWh to the Gulf interconnection network. This export was the difference between the 24,525 MWh the Kuwait network exported and the 6,392 MWh it imported during the month.

The report explained that the maximum electrical load recorded during the past month occurred on the 12th, totaling 10,360 megawatts, while the lowest electrical load was 6,120 MW on the 30th of the same month.

In a separate context, the report indicated that the ministry, through the management of extensions in the distribution networks sector, extended electricity supply to 574 parcels, with a total electricity load of 104,233,270 kW. It was noted that the private housing sector received the largest share of extensions, with 518 MW, followed by the investment housing sector with 19 parcels, the government sector with fourteen parcels, the commercial sector with ten parcels, the agricultural sector with nineparcels, and the industrial sector with four parcels.