The Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy announced today, Sunday, that electricity will be cut off from some residential, industrial and agricultural areas due to a malfunction in fuel (gas) supplies.
Power outages to reduce load on the grid in Kuwait are known as “scheduled outages,” whereby power is cut off in some areas between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., which are peak consumption periods due to heavy use of air conditioners.
The Ministry of Electricity resorted to scheduled power outages this year for the first time in many years, due to the increasing population, urban expansion, high temperatures, and delayed maintenance of some power stations.
Cutting areas
The ministry announced today in various statements on the “X” website that electricity will be cut off from some densely populated residential areas in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Hawalli, Salmiya, Mubarak Al-Kabeer, Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential, Omariya, Farwaniya, Old Jahra, Abu Ftaira and others.
Power has been restored to the following areas:
-Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh
– Part of around me
– Mubarak the Great
Sabah Al-Ahmad Residential
-Omariya #Ministry_of_Electricity_and_Water— Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy 🇰🇼 (@mew_kwt) August 18, 2024
The plots included some agricultural areas in Rawdatayn, Abdali and Wafra, and industrial areas in Mina Abdullah, Subhan, Amghara Scrap, Sulaibiya Industrial Area, Al-Rai and Shuwaikh Industrial Area.
The ministry said that this step comes “to preserve the stability of the country’s electricity system.”
This comes a day after power was cut off to some non-residential areas due to what the ministry described as a “total shutdown” of gas processing units by the Kuwait National Petroleum Company.
The ministry announced yesterday that this stoppage led to a reduction in the quality of gas sent from the National Petroleum Company to some electricity generation units, as the ministry reduced the electrical loads on those units to preserve the electrical system.
Important announcement
The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy announces that electricity will be cut off – within an hour from now – in parts of the following residential areas: –
Crazy
Morning
– Saad Al-Abdullah
– Jaber Al Ali
– SulaibikhatThis is to maintain the stability of the country’s electrical system.
— Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy 🇰🇼 (@mew_kwt) August 18, 2024
flaw
The ministry said that today’s power outage comes “as a result of yesterday’s disruption in fuel (gas) supplies, which led to the failure of a number of electricity generating units at the Al-Subiya and Doha West power and water distillation stations.”
The statement added, “The ministry may regretfully have to cut off electricity to parts of some areas with heavy energy use, in order to preserve the stability of the country’s electrical system.”
As for the National Petroleum Company, it saw that the gas liquefaction plant lines stopped yesterday due to the interruption of seawater allocated for cooling, which is supplied by the Public Authority for Industry, and most of the units of the Ahmadi refinery were also affected.
Statement from the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy on the electricity situation in the country#Ministry_of_Electricity_and_Water pic.twitter.com/40AdTG4u1N
— Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy 🇰🇼 (@mew_kwt) August 18, 2024
The company stated in a statement that the Public Authority for Industry was then able to resupply seawater, followed by the start of restoring the operations of the Ahmadi refinery and gas lines successively, so that operations returned to normal.
With the onset of the crisis this summer, Kuwait signed contracts in May to purchase 500 megawatts of electricity through the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority, including 300 megawatts from the Sultanate of Oman and 200 megawatts from Qatarduring the period from June 1 to August 31.
