Kuwait has officially launched the financing bidding for the 1.1GW Al Shagaya Phase III Zone 1 photovoltaic project, after all the technical evaluation stages have been completed. This is not the promotion of a single project. Recently, local new energy and water power supporting projects have been launched synchronously, and multiple batches of energy bidding have been intensively implemented. The speed of large-scale layout of local renewable energy has significantly increased.

Previously, in the technical bidding process in January 2026, only three consortia, ACWA, Masdar, and French EDF, were successfully shortlisted. Currently, the project has completed the technical bidding evaluation and officially entered the financing bidding stage. The winning bidder will only be announced to the public after regulatory approval and audit disclosure.

Parallel deployment of multiple projects

The local energy department KAPP is simultaneously promoting the evaluation of multiple supporting projects. The Al Haylan Phase I IWPP project, with a total scale of 1800 megawatts, is currently reviewing two bidding documents. The project has a supporting daily processing capacity of 125 million imperial gallons of seawater desalination, and the technical bidding has just started on June 1st. The bidding deadline for the Shagaya Phase III Zone 2 project, which has a capacity of 500 megawatts, has been set for July 26th. Currently, six consortia and three companies have passed the pre qualification review, and the participation rate is not low.

All projects adopt the IPP market-oriented bidding mechanism, without relying entirely on local financial investment, and directly introducing social capital to participate in construction and operation. The functions of photovoltaics, thermal power, and seawater desalination are packaged and implemented, without the need for scattered and repetitive construction.

Partition and staged expansion

Kuwait did not launch a large-scale new energy plan in one breath, but steadily expanded its production capacity through a zoning and phased model. Each round set strict qualification thresholds, only selecting top international energy consortiums to enter, to avoid the disruption of the funding chain for small and medium-sized projects and slow down the progress of the project. Keywords: photovoltaic bidding, new energy projects

As a traditional oil and gas exporting country, Kuwait has long relied on fossil fuels to support its electricity and finances. Now, it is simultaneously promoting green electricity and water supply infrastructure. On the one hand, it is filling the gap of domestic summer electricity peak and solving the old problem of insufficient freshwater supply. On the other hand, it is gradually adjusting its public investment structure and reducing its dependence on a single oil and gas industry. The energy market that continues to open up to the outside world has also provided stable long-term participation space for international enterprises that are deeply involved in the Middle East track.Editor/Cheng Liting