Kuwait will have to burn 700,000 to 900,000 barrels of oil per day to generate electricity and desalinate water by 2030, said a top official from the Ministry of Electricity and Water.
This represents about 20 per cent of Kuwait’s fuel generation capacity, stated Dr Mershan Al-Otaibi, the assistant undersecretary for Planning and Training, Ministry of Electricity and Water in his keynote address at the Kuwait Energy and Efficiency summit which opened on Monday.
The conference is being organised by Meed Events at the Hilton Kuwait Resort, where key stakeholders from both the private and public sectors will map out a national energy efficiency strategy.
Addressing the gathering, Al-Otaibi said: “The demand is understandably massive but global action on climate change will accelerate conservation efforts and hopefully further reduce demand. 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 water desalination requirements.”
Al-Otaibi further pointed out that 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 per cent.
Over the long-term, Kuwait could be generating 15 per cent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy by 2030, he noted.
In his speech, Nizar Al-Adasani, the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, said improving energy efficiency can deliver a range of benefits to the economy and society.
“Energy consumption is set to grow by a third over the next two decades alone, and it is energy efficiency that will prevail. 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,” he stated.
Hosnia Hashim, the deputy managing director (North Kuwait), Kuwait Oil Company said the search for ways to maximise oil recovery had opened opportunities for special extraction techniques like Enhanced Oil Recovery.
“These recovery methods, when perfected, can push oil out more efficiently, and save more than 50 per cent water that would normally consume significant power to dispose safely,” noted Hashim.
“Kuwait Oil Company is pursuing this Enhanced Oil Recovery strategy company-wide to accelerate the benefits for production, reserves, as well as reduction in water management and power,” she added.
