POWER

Plugging the gap

August 2010

KUWAIT PLANS to sign a deal to import electricity from Qatar to cover possible power shortages until 2010, Nabil bin Salama, the country’s electricity and water minister, has revealed.

Kuwait has one of the world’s highest per capita power consumption rates and has struggled to keep up with rising demand. When temperatures in the desert peak at around 50 degrees Celsius, Kuwait’s grid struggles to deal with demand for air-conditioning.

Gulf countries have hooked up the first phase of a regional power grid that they hope will help them meet rapidly rising regional demand. Links between the grids of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar are being tested and should be up and running in the summer. The United Arab Emirates and Oman would be linked at a later stage.

Kuwait has said it plans to boost power capacity to around 16,000 megawatts, up from 10,000 MW, by 2012. Salama expects 2010 to be critical for the Gulf state as new projects to boost capacity would still be under construction.

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