China wants a piece of Kuwait’s planned Shagaya solar expansion: Kuwait’s government has wrapped two weeks of discussions with an undisclosed Chinese state-owned firm for the development of a planned solar energy farm at the Al Shagaya Renewable Energy Park, Kuwaiti daily Al-Seyassah reported on Friday. Both sides also discussed the regulatory framework for establishing renewables companies under the new Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority law. The financials, launch date, and power output of the project were not disclosed.

This has been in the works: The meetings follow a previous bilateral MoU signed last September for the project during a state visit by Kuwaiti Crown Prince Mishal Al Ahmad Al Sabah, Al-Seyassah writes.

Kuwait has been planning a solar expansion for a while: Kuwait is committing to sourcing 15% (or 14 GW) of its power from renewables by 2030, including from planned increases to Shagaya’s power capacity from 70 MW to 4 GW to replace eight oil and gas-fired power stations. The park currently includes a 50 MW thermal solar plant, a 10 MW wind farm, a 10 MW PV plant, and 132 kV overhead transmission line connected to the national grid. The expansion project is not expected to kick off operations before 2027.

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