Kuwait cuts power to some areas on high demand and maintenance

Kuwait City: Kuwait cut power supply to some agricultural and industrial areas as demand rose while there was maintenance work at generating plants ahead of the summer.

The cuts have started even before the scorching heat kicks in, highlighting the challenges facing one of the world's richest countries as it struggles to meet surging summer demand because of a lack of capacity. Kuwait was forced to resort to rare scheduled outages last year as temperatures soared.

The Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said on Wednesday that power was curtailed to areas including Abdullah port and Shuwaikh along the Arabian Gulf.

High loads and a need for maintenance to prepare power plants to run at full capacity this summer have prompted the temporary cuts to certain areas for limited hours, the ministry said.

Experts in Kuwait have warned for decades of a looming electricity crisis, due to indecision around building new power stations to keep up with demand as electricity is heavily subsidised. The government often urges residents to curb usage but there's little financial incentive for them to do so.

The country is part of an interlinked Gulf Cooperation Council electricity grid, and last year bought electricity from neighboring Oman. It also signed a new 15-year deal with Qatar for the supply of liquefied natural gas, to help ease the strain on power plants.

Although still limited in scale, Kuwait's latest power cuts are a warning for many Middle Eastern nations, where summer temperatures can rise above 50C (122F).

Iraq has struggled with blackouts for years as existing power plants aren't able to keep up with demand, while Egypt in 2024 had severe energy shortages that turned it into a net importer of gas from an exporter previously.

There were also hundreds of heat-related deaths at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year.