Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula KSC, the owner and operator of the Az-Zour North One Power and Water Plant, announced today the successful conclusion of two years of operations of the plant. Az-Zour North One Power and Water Plant is Kuwait’s first independently owned power and water facility with a current production capacity of 27% of Kuwait’s power requirements at peak production (1,539MW) and 35% of water generation (107 million gallons per day).
Az-Zour North One Power and Water Plant began operations in November 2016 and is the first stage of the country’s plan to significantly increase its capacity over the coming years as part of a larger effort to meet an anticipated peak demand of 25 gigawatts (GW) by 2025. The milestone comes only 42 months after the Operation and Maintenance team took control of the first three gas turbines in June 2015 to provide early power during the construction phase of the site.
Shamal Az-Zour Al-Oula KSC CEO Paul Frain said, “We are proud to reach a key milestone in operations which we could have not have achieved without the incredible hard-work and dedication of our entire team. They are at the heart of our success. Contributing towards the achievement of Kuwait’s National Development Plan and Vision 2035 for the past three and a half years we’ve worked diligently to meet the milestones set and successfully began plant operations two years ago. We look forward to meeting all future goals set in the plant’s next phases to keep up with local demand and maintain this commitment in the years to come.”
Azzour North One Project Timeline:
- March 2011: Request for proposal (RFP) issued for the Az-Zour North One Plant development
- March 2012: Preferred bidder was chosen
- December 2012: Successful bidder announced
- December 12, 2013: Kuwait’s first PPP RFP process was successfully completed, signing ceremony with MEW, and start of construction
- January 10, 2014: Shamal Azzour Al-Oula reaches its financial close
- March 13, 2015: Key interfaces connection with MEW and KOC:
- Electricity transmission facilities (MEW)
- Main fuel connection - Gas (KOC)
- Backup fuel connection – fuel oil (KOC)
- May 3, 2015: First megawatt of power was generated into the national grid of Kuwait
- June 28, 2015: ECOD 1 :1 GTG in SC – 214.3 MW
- August 11, 2015: ECOD 2 :2 GTGs in SC – 440.5 MW (achieved two days early)
- September 18, 2015: ECOD 3 :3 GTGs in SC – 664.2 MW (achieved ten days early)
- November 26, 2016: Construction completed, full commercial operation starts