DUBAI: Kuwait plans to sell shares in the Al-Zour North Independent Water and Power Project to the public in mid- 2017, state news agency KUNA reported yesterday.

The Al- Zour North One plant has a capacity of at least 1,500 MW and is structured as a public-private partnership (PPP). The project is 40 percent owned by three partners - France’s Engie, Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation and Kuwaiti firm AH Al Sagar & Brothers. Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Public Institution for Social Security, and the PPP body Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), together hold 60 percent.

A public share sale was a condition for the project, once construction was finished. It was completed on Nov 26, according to Sumitomo’s website. The government will offer 50 percent of Al-Zour to Kuwaiti citizens, KAPP General Manager Mutlaq Al-Sanei said.