PLAN DEVELOPMENT FOR AN ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM FOR THE STATE OF KUWAIT

摘要

Kuwait is a major oil producing country with an estimated total crude oil production of 2,978 thousand barrel/day in 2012, which represents a 9.2% share in Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The Kuwaiti government opted to share its wealth with the citizens by providing free education, health care and subsidized water and energy. While the consumer benefits from these services, it resulted in profligate consumption patterns on both water and energy. The heavily subsidized energy cost lead to an inefficient energy consumption, which placed monetary and economic burdens on the government. Accordingly the government started seeking opportunities to alleviate these burdens and promote efficient energy utilization and power consumption. This study is conducted to assess the national power and energy situation and proposes the Kuwait Energy Efficiency Plan (KEEP). In the process, various energy conservation opportunities (ECOs) that can be implemented in residential, commercial and governmental buildings, are considered. The ECOs include utilization of increased wall thermal insulation thickness, high performance fenestration, split zones, time of use meters, efficient lighting systems, energy auditing, appliance labeling, programmable thermostats, and building labeling. The impact of the ECOs on energy conservation, peak load and the mitigated CO_2 emissions is estimated. The estimated monetary savings for the Kuwaiti government through KEEP is based on a cost of electricity of 15 fils/kWh (5.3 cents/kWh) and 400 KD/kW ($1416 /kW) for energy and installed power respectively. It is found that the total savings, for the selected base year 2002, that can be realized from implementing all recommended measures amounts to KD111 million ($394 million) and 142 million KD ($503 million) for energy and power respectively. The saved fuel amount is 4.5 million barrels that cost KD 29.8 million ($106 million at $23.6/barrel). The mitigated emissions of CO_2 are found to be 3.860 million tons. This study can provide a general perspective to scientists, policy and decision makers with an insight about the development of a national energy plan for a country with subsidized energy tariffs as in the State of Kuwait. The findings can also provide systems and technology developers with a different perspective for specific subsidized energy tariffs situation to draw their attention in order to develop, market and transfer their technology in the right context.