“Summer Electricity 2026”: An Exceptional Success
Kuwait’s Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy, Dr. Sabih Al-Makhzoum, confirmed that the country’s power system concluded the summer of 2026 season with a peak electrical load of 17,540 megawatts, a decrease of 70 megawatts compared to the summer of 2025, marking the second consecutive year of decline in peak load.
In a press statement yesterday, Al-Makhzoum said this indicator reflects a continuation of the trend that began in the summer of 2025, when peak load reached 17,610 megawatts, dropping for the first time compared to 2024, when it stood at 17,640 megawatts. This demonstrates a positive trend in consumption efficiency, despite ongoing urban, demographic, and economic expansion and the addition of new electrical loads to the grid.
He added that the electrical loads added due to connecting power to new facilities amounted to 1,059 megawatts during the period from summer 2024 to summer 2025, and 1,019 megawatts from summer 2025 to summer 2026, totaling 2,078 megawatts from summer 2024 to summer 2026. He clarified that despite this, the peak load in summer 2026 was lower than levels recorded in the summers of 2024 and 2025, underscoring the impact of efforts to enhance energy efficiency and improve consumption patterns, particularly during peak hours.
Al-Makhzoum emphasized that measures taken to manage electrical loads during the summer season directly contributed to alleviating pressure on the power system, especially during peak periods. These measures included reducing working hours in government entities by one hour and halting operations in factories during peak hours.
He noted that the summer of 2026 season occurred under exceptionally difficult circumstances due to regional developments affecting the country and the region, as well as malicious Iranian attacks on parts of the power system. These attacks targeted several electricity generation and water desalination plants, fuel storage tanks, and overhead power lines.
He stated that these conditions led to the outage of several generation units and system components, affecting some production and operational capacities. He added that the repercussions of these conditions also extended to routine and preventive maintenance programs, preventing the execution of certain works according to scheduled timelines and impacting maintenance activities for several units, which were gradually completed by the end of August.
He clarified that despite these unusual operational conditions and the resulting technical damages, unit outages, and disruptions to maintenance programs, the ministry’s teams and technical staff worked around the clock to repair damages, restore affected units and facilities to service, and maintain system readiness. This enabled the ministry to ensure service continuity and meet the country’s needs throughout the summer season.
