With the Dabdaba/Al-Dibdibah solar field now having been combined with the Shagaya clean energy development, bids for the former’s EPC contract were reportedly received last week. It is unclear whether the facility will have a generation capacity of 1 GW, 1.5 GW or ‘up to 3 GW.’
The three-and-a-half-years delayed Dabdaba solar project planned by the government of Kuwait is back out for tender, according to a report on Dubai-based trade news website Energy and Utilities.
An article posted on the site yesterday reported the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP) – which has taken over the tender for the gigawatt-scale solar field from the Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) – has received project proposals from companies vying for the engineering, procurement and construction services contract.
Previously reported as a 1 GW and 1.5 GW project, the solar field – which Energy and Utilities referred to as Al-Dibdibah – is now set to have a generation capacity of “up to 3 GW,” according to the trade news website, although the Dubai-based media organization also referred to the latest plans as a “1.5 GW project.”
The article appears to confirm a story reported by New York-controlled regional news website Zawya Middle East in January, that the project has been combined with the Shagaya renewables field being planned 100km west of Kuwait City. Berlin-based cleantech advisory Apricum wrote in a pv magazine article in June, that “Al Dibdibah” is part of the Shagaya project.
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Energy and Utilities wrote bids had been received for a submission date of last Tuesday which had been extended from June 27 and July 27. The original, KPC tender for Dabdaba was supposed to have been completed in March 2018.
Dubai’s Energy and Utilities report stated Shagaya has 50 MW of concentrating solar power generation capacity, plus 10 MW of solar and 10 MW of wind, installed as part of a pilot project, and implies Dabdaba will comprise the second phase of the clean power facility. Phase III, described as ‘Al Abrag’ by Apricum, is expected to feature 1.2 GW of photovoltaics as part of a 2 GW extension of capacity which will take it to “almost 4GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030,” according to Energy and Utilities.
pv magazine is awaiting a reply from KPC about the status of the tender, having contacted the state entity in July last year and in January. The English-language version of the website of KAPP – the state body tasked with generating private-sector investment – had no updates related to Dabdaba this morning.
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Source: pv magazine
