Elecnor wins EUR 22.4 million contract to build Kuwait’s first wind farm

Elecnor has secured the EUR 22.4 million contract to build Kuwait’s first wind farm. The facility will be in the Shagaya Renewable Energy Park.

The 10 MW project will be jointly undertaken by Elecnor (60%) and Alghanim International (40%), a Kuwaiti multinational with an impressive track record in engineering and construction projects.

The project includes the engineering, construction and installation of five 2 MW wind turbines, connection to a 132 kV substation and the start-up and subsequent maintenance of the facility for six years.

Renewables in Kuwait

The Shagaya Renewable Energy Park will have total installed capacity of 2005 MW by 2030. The project is part of the Kuwaiti government’s plan to meet 15% of its total energy needs through renewables.  It is a project on a vast scale underway in the north of the country, around 100 km from the capital (Kuwait City), and has been designed and promoted by the Ministry of Electricity and Water and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR).

The wind farm awarded to Elecnor is part of the first phase of development, along with a solar thermal and a PV plant. The three facilities will have combined installed capacity of 70 MW.

Kuwait is part of the region comprising the Middle East and North Africa identified as crucial to the international expansion of Elecnor, which booked sales in a total of 40 countries on five continents in 2014.

Elecnor and wind energy

In wind power, Elecnor both promotes, invests in and manages its own projects and builds facilities for third parties. Elecnor develops its own wind farms through its specialist subsidiary Enerfín, which operates over 1,000 MW in Spain, Brazil and Canada, while as a third-party builder this contract in Kuwait follows the agreement recently struck in Jordan, where the company is currently working on the country’s second wind farm.