Kuwait enforces power cuts as demand outstrips capacity

Kuwait temporarily cut electricity in some industrial and agricultural areas on Wednesday as demand for power surged due to hot weather, outstripping generating capacity that had been restricted by maintenance at power plants.

Kuwait, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), last summer resorted to programmed load-shedding for the first time in years amid rising demand, urban expansion and plant maintenance delays.

Wednesday’s outages lasted less than two hours before electricity was restored, according to posts by the electricity ministry on X.

Temperatures have risen by about 10 degrees over the past week to a high of around 38 degrees Celsius on Wednesday. Summer temperatures in the Gulf country often exceed 50 degrees Celsius.

The ministry asked residents to reduce their electricity use in general and especially between 11:00am and 05:00pm (08:00 and 14:00 GMT).

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Kuwait imported electricity from the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority, an interconnected grid between Gulf countries, last summer.

In August, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation reached a deal with QatarEnergy to import three million tons per annum of liquefied natural gas to help meet rising demand for power generation.

And as part of efforts to avoid a longer-term power crunch, it also signed a framework agreement with China last month to develop renewable energy projects with a capacity of around 3,500 megawatts.