KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait will have to burn 700,000 to 900,000 barrels of oil per day to generate electricity and desalinate water by 2030, Dr. Mershan Al-Otaibi, Asst. Undersecretary for Planning and Training, Ministry of Electricity and Water, Kuwait said Sunday at the beginning of the Kuwait Energy and Efficiency summit. This represents about 20 percent of Kuwait's fuel generation capacity, he said in his keynote address. “The demand is understandably massive but global action on climate change will accelerate conservation efforts and hopefully further reduce demand,” Al-Otaibi added. “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.” In his speech, Al-Otaibi further said that short-to-medium term savings for electricity generation could be derived with a new energy-saving code for new buildings will reduce costs by 20 percent. Over the long-term, Kuwait could be generating 15 percent of its electricity requirements from renewable energy by 2030. Meanwhile, Nizar Al-Adasani, CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), 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.” Hosnia Hashim, Deputy Managing Director (North Kuwait), Kuwait Oil Company, said the search for ways to maximize oil recovery has 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 percent water that would normally consume significant power to dispose safely. KOC is pursuing this EOR strategy company-wide to accelerate the benefits for production, reserves, as well as reduction in water management and power,” Hashim added. — SG
