Kuwait’s state refiner KNPC has issued a tender for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 1.5GW solar power plant. Why Kuwait’s refining firm is organizing the tender is unclear, since the solar plant is to be built 100km west of Kuwait City in the proposed Al-Shegaya Renewable Energy Park, nowhere near any of KNPC’s coastal refineries. KNPC’s tender documents say the proposed Al-Dabdaba solar project will comprise five units each with capacity to deliver up to 300MW of AC electricity to the grid. The plant is expected to deliver its first electricity in 2021. Spain’s TSK is already building Kuwait’s first utility-scale solar project, a 50MW plant at Al-Shegaya (MEES, 21 July 2017).