Kuwait Cancels $1.4bn Solar Project over Covid-19 Crisis

Kuwait has cancelled plans to construct the Al Dabdaba solar plant, which would have provided 15 per cent of the oil sector’s needs from renewable sources, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The decision was taken following a cabinet meeting on July 13 after evaluating the project in the context of spreading of coronavirus and its impacts on the global oil and financial markets.

The plant was set to come up at Al-Shagaya renewable energy complex, nearly 100 miles west of the capital Kuwait City and near to the Saudi border. Once completed, it would have been one of the largest photovoltaic solar facilities in the region generating 2,500 GWh of electricity per year

The lowest bid for the project was KD439 million ($1.4 billion).

Set to be developed by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, the project was initially being planned for operational launch in February next year. However, the project was repeatedly delayed due to bureaucratic procedures, it added.