KUWAIT: ShamalAl-Zour Al-Oula KSC, the owner and operator of Al-Zour North One Power andWater Plant, announced yesterday the successful conclusion of two years ofoperations of the plant. Al-Zour North One Power and Water Plant is Kuwait'sfirst independently owned power and water facility with a current productioncapacity of 27 percent of Kuwait's power requirements at peak production(1,539MW) and 35 percent of water generation (107 million gallons per day).
Al-Zour North OnePower and Water Plant began operations in November 2016 and is the first stageof the country's plan to significantly increase its capacity over the comingyears as part of a larger effort to meet an anticipated peak demand of 25gigawatts (GW) by 2025. The milestone comes only 42 months after the Operationand Maintenance team took control of the first three gas turbines in June 2015to provide early power during the construction phase of the site.
Shamal Al-Zour Al-Oula KSC CEO Paul Frain said, "We areproud to reach a key milestone in operations which we could have not haveachieved without the incredible hard-work and dedication of our entire team.They are at the heart of our success. Contributing towards the achievement ofKuwait's National Development Plan and Vision 2035 for the past three and ahalf years we've worked diligently to meet the milestones set and successfullybegan plant operations two years ago. We look forward to meeting all futuregoals set in the plant's next phases to keep up with local demand and maintainthis commitment in the years to come."
Al-Zour North OneProject Timeline:
* March 2011:Request for proposal (RFP) issued for the Al-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, signingceremony 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.