Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy signed a 25-year purchase agreement for the 120 MIGD Az-Zour North 2&3 plant on February 3, 2026, and in August 2026 a contract for the 60 MIGD Doha seawater reverse osmosis plant Phase 2. Together they add 180 MIGD, about 1.7 times the 107 MIGD water capacity of Az-Zour North 1, operating as of the ministry's latest statistical yearbook (2024).
Two plants, two models
The larger block is Az-Zour North 2&3: 120 MIGD of water and 2,700 MW of power, under a 25-year energy conversion and water purchase agreement signed on February 3, 2026 with ACWA Power and Gulf Investment Corporation. Financial close was still pending in August 2026, and MEED estimates the project cost at about US$4 billion.
The second is the 60 MIGD Doha seawater reverse osmosis plant Phase 2, bought outside the partnership model. A joint venture of Heisco and VA Tech Wabag signed a KD 114.28 million (about US$372 million) contract in August 2026. Construction is scheduled to take 36 months, followed by five years of operation and maintenance.
Storage grows too
United Gulf Construction holds a US$316 million, five-year contract to expand the Doha water distribution complex, adding about 130 MIG of storage, equal to about 1.2 days of Az-Zour North 1's water capacity.
The next plant is unsettled
Al-Khairan Phase 1, the next partnership plant, received two bids on June 1, 2026, and no preferred bidder had been reported by November. Its water capacity is given as 150,000 m³ a day by MEED in June 2026 and as about 568,000 m³ a day by The Energy Year at the September 2025 tender launch, a gap of about 3.8 times.
How the ministry divides this work between its own contracts and the partnership program, what the April 2026 strikes on two co-generation plants mean for supply, and which openings the pipeline creates to 2030 are set out in the full report. The full report, Water Systems Overview: Ministry of Electricity Water and Renewable Energy, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the Ministry of Electricity Water and Renewable Energy Utility Snapshot.