The State of Kuwait

Positions for the United Nations International Renewable Energy Agency

  1. Combating Climate Change by Increasing Urban Energy Efficiency.

The state of Kuwait new cabinet, was implemented on December of 2017 and it has reached new goals and a new vision towards renewable energies. Arab states and countries all over the world have steered toward the full potential of this energy of the future. Kuwait has been blessed with an incredible amount of fossil fuel, which fueled the economy for decades, it is logical that we use this form of energy to generate electricity. Indeed before 2016, 99.98% of the energy produced and consumed in the country was from fossil fuel. This era has come to an end, and the new government of Kuwait is dedicated to become a leader in renewable energy.

Kuwait has an incredible high rate of urbanization with 98.4%, it is an advantage and an inconvenient. The cities are the background of our lives, gradually moving towards a more renewable system is a gain for everybody. As the ninth producer of crude oil in the world, the state of Kuwait naturally emits a great number of Carbon Monoxide which make of us the 38th greatest polluter in the world. Climate change being the most dangerous threat faced by humanity, we understand that it is our duty to bring an end to such a tragedy. Our ambitions are growing exponentially like the technology in this field. Nevertheless, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is expanding greatly its extraction. Indeed, no country would leave such a great amount of wealth buried.

The first Renewable Energy Power Plant was under construction in 2015 and by the end of 2016 was producing a mere 1.8 MW of Photovoltaic energy. This same plant will undergo major construction to diversify and widen the scale to a total of 30 M.W by the end of 2018. The Shagaya Renewable Energy Complex (SREC) will hold wind turbines, photovoltaic panels and concentrated solar power. This is but an example of the will and capacities of the state to transition from a fully carbon fueled energy system to a renewable one. On top of the SREC the ministry of energy is planning on developing micro grid that would be in urban areas, right where people live and work.

  1. Assessing the Socio-Economic Impacts of Wind and Solar Energy

The country of Kuwait is locked in between giants and dispose of only a fraction of the territory of its neighbors, but we are still fully committed to become leaders in the MENA region. For so The State of Kuwait decided that multiple microgrids immersed in urban life and scattered around the country would be a very efficient way to produce energy on top of the SREC. To ensure a prosperous future to our nation we are obliged to engage with all industries related to energy and make sure they are in the right path towards efficiency and renewability. As discussed earlier, Kuwait energy is totally dependent on fossil fuel, that is an exhaustible form of energy. For so, the State of Kuwait is engaged with KPC to survey the reserve left underground and to plan its extraction in a durable way.

The most ambitious plan yet by the government towards green energy is the Kuwait Microgrid Transformation Program (KMT), which is a 10 year long vision for the development of Wind and Solar Energy in the country. It subsidies greatly materials used in the construction and assembly of the micro grids. It also incentives investments in renewable energy. This subsidies and incentives will be financed by the future savings made by the decreasing cost of energy in Kuwait. Since the country will be able to export more fossil fuel as it will use less and less with time.

If every building has photovoltaic panels it would transform the whole electricity grid. It would make of every building in Kuwait a micro power plant. This is the goal of KMT. Thus, creating a tremendous amount of infrastructure work. The installation of solar panels, special batteries and a grid that connect all of them on every building is a work of giant. The impact this infrastructure project would have is tremendous it would provide work for at least two generations of workers of all levels and all fields. Kuwait will pursue this plan to improve energy efficiency in urban areas. In the long run this infrastructure will enable the price of energy to drop dramatically which would in turn help all industries in the country.