A highly anticipated signing ceremony was held in Kuwait, where a 25 year energy and freshwater procurement agreement was signed, officially kicking off the country's largest hydroelectric infrastructure project to date. This project, with a total investment of over 4.1 billion US dollars, not only involves several gigawatts of electricity and hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of fresh water per day, but also carries Kuwait's national strategy to address resource challenges, and gathers capital and technological forces from Saudi Arabia, China, and around the world.

Lock in the cornerstone of long-term security

A consortium consisting of Saudi International Electricity and Water Company ACWA Power and Gulf Investment Company GIC has signed an energy conversion and water purchase agreement for the Az Zour North Phase II and III projects with Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy. This agreement is the core commercial cornerstone of the project, stipulating that the Kuwaiti government will purchase all electricity and fresh water produced by the project on a payment or non payment basis for the next 25 years. This long-term and definite purchase commitment provides stable expected returns and financing feasibility for a massive investment of up to 4.1 billion US dollars, and is a key mechanism for attracting international private capital to participate in such major national infrastructure projects. The project company's shares are held by a consortium of ACWA Power and GIC, with 40% held by the Kuwaiti government entity and 60% held by the Kuwaiti government entity. In the future, 50% of the shares will be publicly offered to the Kuwaiti public to achieve shared benefits.

A national key tool for addressing the water and electricity crisis

Kuwait is located in an arid region with extremely scarce freshwater resources, and relies almost entirely on seawater desalination for both domestic and industrial use. Meanwhile, economic development and extreme summer temperatures have led to a sustained and rapid increase in electricity demand. The Az Zour North Phase II and III projects were launched to address this dual dilemma. The project is located approximately 100 kilometers south of Kuwait City, adjacent to the completed Phase I project, with the aim of forming a large-scale energy and seawater desalination industry cluster. After the completion of the project, it is expected to add up to 2700 megawatts of power generation capacity and approximately 545000 cubic meters of freshwater production capacity per day, which will significantly enhance the country's energy self-sufficiency and water supply security resilience. Keywords: International Latest News, International News Network

Strong combination of technology and execution

The construction of this project reflects a high degree of international professional division of labor. At the technical level, the power generation part will adopt efficient combined cycle gas turbine technology, while seawater desalination will use advanced reverse osmosis technology with lower energy consumption to respond to the global trend of energy conservation and emission reduction. At the engineering execution level, Shandong Electric Power Construction Third Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China Power Construction Group, will serve as the leading party and form a consortium with international partners such as General Electric to jointly undertake the engineering general contracting and construction of the project, demonstrating its strength in the field of large-scale and complex energy engineering worldwide. After the project is put into operation, its long-term operation and maintenance work will be undertaken by a professional company under ACWA Power to ensure reliable operation throughout its entire lifecycle. In addition, the visit of the Saudi Minister of Energy to the signing site highlights the significant importance of this project in deepening energy and strategic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.Editor/Gao Xue