Kuwait needs a five-point action plan to address soaring domestic energy consumption, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Electricity & Water Meshan al-Otaibi told the MEED Kuwait Energy & Efficiency Conference on 2 June 2013.

He said Kuwait needs:

• an energy efficiency and renewable energy regulatory body
• co-generation and district cooling systems for the new cities Kuwait is planning
• an efficiency programme covering the electricity generation, transmission and generation system
• an energy-saving code for new and old buildings and the adoption of solar power
• radical changes in consumer behaviour that would be brought about in part by pre-paid electricity meters and higher tariffs.

Al-Otaibi said that peak demand for electricity could rise to more than 30,000MW by 2030 from about 12,000MW at present if recent trends continue. He said that this could involve burning more than 700,000 barrels a day (b/d) of liquid fuels in Kuwaiti power stations. That would be about 30 per cent of total fuel production in 2030.

Al-Otaibi said a comprehensive energy efficiency programme could cut peak power demand in 2030 to 20,000MW.

He said that Kuwait planned to import 500MW of power from a “neighbouring country” in 2014.