Bloomberg reported that Sun drenched Kuwait, a desert nation with no solar power plants and electricity demand that's growing about 8% per year has set the most ambitious target for using renewable energy in the Gulf region.
Mr Eyad Ali al Falah assistant undersecretary for technical services at the Ministry of Electricity and Water said that OPEC's fifth biggest oil producer whose air conditioners run cheaply off state subsidized oil fired power plants aims to generate 10% of its electricity from sustainable sources by 2020.
Al Falah said that Kuwait is trying free up more oil for export and expand its generation capacity to support increased tourism, manufacturing and home building in a USD 112 billion development program. To meet its clean energy target which exceeds the 7% goal set by Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait next must gather data on sunshine and wind speeds.
He said that "Renewable energy is a new subject for Kuwait. That's why there's a lack of information regarding the suitability of renewables for our weather."
Mr Jarmo Kotilaine chief economist at National Commercial Bank in Jeddah said that Gulf oil producers need to generate more electricity to meet demand that's growing an average of 10% per year.
Mr Rajit Nanda chief financial officer for ACWA Power International said that "We definitely see solar potential in Kuwait. While Kuwait hasn't kick started renewable energy projects there's a lot of peak demand when solar resources are at their best."
He said that Kuwait could then export more fuel and generate higher revenue instead of pumping it into electricity plants. Oil contributed 95% of the KWD 11.89 billion in revenue the country recorded for the 5 months through Aug 31st 2011.
