No programmed power cuts this year in Kuwait

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KUWAIT: This year citizens and residents will experience freedom from programmed power cuts. "Our situation is comfortable. We have enough reserves, but the Ministry will continue with the rationalization campaign even if we had enough reserves. We don't have not planned any programmed power cuts this year, but it may be the last solution. If people come across announcements about programmed power cuts, it will be caused by maintenance work performed on some generators," said Iyad Al-Falah, Assistant Unde
rsecretary for Technical Services at the Ministry of Electricity and WaterMinistry of Electricity and Water. He was speaking during the opening of the Kuwait Electricity Conference and Exhibition (Kuwait Electrics 2010) held at the Radisson SAS Hotel yesterday.

The power sector in Kuwait faces various challenges. "The greatest challenge is the increasing demand of power supply as a result of the expansion of development projects that have been growing rapidly during the past few years. This caused the need to build new stations and renew existing ones to match with this rise according to the best international standards. This increase in new stations will also fulfill with the state's need of power according to the development plan approved by the government that
includes many mega projects, which will be realized soon," added Al-Falah.

The Ministry of ElectricityMinistry of Electricity is keen to follow modern researches and studies made in the power sector. "We aim to benefit from the experience of pioneers in other countries in this field. So we hope that this conference will be an important source of knowledge for those who work in this field; to increase their skills and experiences and encourage them for more improvement," he pointed out.

International companies are participating in Kuwait Electrics 2010. "This is the first exhibition for electronic goods such as generators and others. Apart from local companies and producers, many regional participants will take part. This conference will be held repeatedly. I hope that all Kuwaiti engineers will attend it and benefit from it. Many foreign companies are showcasing modern technological innovations that we haven't seen before," Al-Falah concluded.

Many local factories in the field of power work according to international standards and they have achieved international certification from ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 29001. We are proud that these factories even export products to other GCC countries and Iraq, and this caused the drop in prices of generators or place it on the same level, although the prices of some material such as aluminum have hiked," noted Abduljaleel Boland, Deputy Chairman of the Al-Ahleia Switchgear Co.

© Kuwait Times 2010