KUWAIT CITY, Jan 9: According to informed sources in the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, the ministry achieved financial savings estimated at KD 152 million from the last budget. This invalidates the ministry’s argument that the lack of financial funds is one of the main reasons for the disruption of electricity and water production projects at a time when the ministry is facing serious challenges that portend an electricity crisis in the coming summer.

It had forced the ministry to allocate KD 30 million on-demand to purchase energy from the electrical connection network and obtain the approval of the Fatwa and Legislation Department to purchase energy from companies. The sources indicated that the ministry was supposed to benefit from these financial savings that it achieved in the budgets year after year, adding that the percentage of savings was 13.8 percent compared to the total budget, which amounted to KD 3.237 billion during the aforementioned fiscal year of 2022/2023.

Production
Meanwhile, the sources explained that the ministry has many electricity production projects until 2029, and these projects are supposed to lead to the production of about 13,780 megawatts if they are implemented according to the plans set without delay. These projects include two within the Subiya station’s fourth phase that can produce 900 megawatts and are scheduled to be launched on a trial basis in 2025 and 2027 respectively.

One of the largest projects implemented by the ministry is the Nuwaiseeb station project (first phase), which is scheduled to produce 3,600 megawatts in the years 2028 and 2029. The ministry has a project to enhance production at the Subiya station by adding 250 megawatts, and it is scheduled to be operated on a trial basis in 2026. There is also another project for the production of 2,700 megawatts from the North Zour station (the second and third phases), which are scheduled to be operated on an experimental basis in 2027 and 2028.

One of the public-private partnership projects is the Khairan Project (first phase), which is scheduled to produce 1,800 megawatts in the year 2028 in two parts - 1,200 MW and 600 MW. Also, the Shagaya project’s second phase is scheduled to produce 1,100 megawatts in 2026, and the third phase is scheduled to produce 200 megawatts in 2028. The fourth phase is scheduled to produce 1,500 megawatts in 2026, and the fifth phase is scheduled to produce 1,700 megawatts in 2028. The sources added that the latest project is a project of photovoltaic panels on water tanks, which is scheduled to produce 30 megawatts in 2026.

They affirmed that these projects would cover the country’s needs during the next stage according to expected consumption rates. In another development, the Civil Service Commission has agreed to set flexible working hours for employees of the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy by granting them a flexible hour from 7:00 am to 8:00 am with a grace period of 30 minutes.

By Mohammed Ghanem Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff