Kuwait Looks for a Win-Win Balance Among Oil Fuel, Energy and Renewables

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Facing the prospect of burning 700,000 to 900,000 barrels of oil per day to generate electricity and desalinate water by 2030, Kuwait is looking to renewable energy and a reduction in power demand to assist in meeting the rising fuel bill.

"The demand is understandably massive, but global action on climate change will accelerate conservation efforts and hopefully further reduce demand," said Dr. Mershan Al-Otaibi of Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity and Water. in his keynote address at the Kuwait Energy and Efficiency summit this week. "And this is why we are keen on developing alternative technologies and energy sources to replace oil as the main source of power for our electricity and desalination requirements."

The oil consumption figures quoted represent about 20% of Kuwait's fuel generation capacity. Short- to medium-term savings for electricity generation could be derived with a new energy-saving code for new buildings that will reduce costs by 20%. Over the long term, Kuwait could generate 15% of its electricity requirements from renewable energy sources, Al-Otaibi said.

"Energy consumption is set to grow by a third over the next two decades alone, and it is energy efficiency that will prevail," said Nizar Al-Adasani, CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. "Far from being a drag on growth, making our energy sources more sustainable, our energy consumption more efficient and our economy more resilient to energy price shocks are a vital part of the growth and wealth that we need."

The search for ways to maximize oil recovery had opened opportunities for special extraction techniques, such as enhanced oil recovery.

"The recovery methods, when perfected, could push oil out more efficiently and save more than 50% of the water that would normally consume significant power in safe disposal," said Hosnia Hashim, the deputy managing director for Kuwait Oil Company.

"Kuwait Oil Company is pursuing this enhanced oil recovery strategy company-wide to accelerate the benefits for production and reserves, as well as reduction in water management and power," she said.

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