Kuwait government has signed up HSBC as the consultants for the country's first solar power plant being built at a cost of KD926.25 million ($3.2 billion) at Al-Abdaliya, west of the country's capital, said a report.

The 280MW plant is expected to go online by the end of the year, according to a report from the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)

The consultancy contract with HSBC marks the first involvement in state development strategy in Kuwait by a private company. In December 2012, Kuwait set itself a target of generating 15 per cent of energy by renewable sources by 2030, said the KUNA report.

The Kuwait Ministry of Finance's technical team is set to float the venture for tendering under the country’s public private partnership programme (PPP) in co-operation with the electricity and water ministry.