KUWAIT CITY, Oct 14: According to informed sources, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy has not yet succeeded in achieving the desire of the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad to produce 15 percent of renewable energy in the country by the year 2030. They said the ministry’s total production of renewable energy in the past 11 years amounted to 1,910 megawatts, which is not enough to operate two large government buildings, as it is produced from photovoltaic panel projects on top of the buildings of the Ministry of Electricity and Water and a number of other small projects. The sources said they were surprised by the ministry’s target to achieve 4,500 to 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy in 2030 within its written and announced plan when it was only able to produce 1,910 megawatts in the 11 years since the launch of the Amiri vision.

Accelerate
They called for the ministry to accelerate the implementation of its current plan, which aims to produce 4,780 megawatts by 2028, by implementing several projects through specialized international developers, providing the necessary budgets, and coordinating with the responsible authorities to speed up the tendering, awarding and implementation procedures. The sources highlighted studies that have proven that the cost of producing a kilowatt of renewable energy ranges between 3.5 to 5 fils, which is much less than the cost of a kilowatt produced from traditional energy, which costs 35 fils per kilowatt. This means that using alternative energy saves the state treasury approximately KD 2 billion annually, as it currently uses oil to operate traditional power plants.

They explained that the ministry has 17 future projects to produce energy from photovoltaic panels by exploiting the spaces in its buildings, facilities, and stations, with the aim to achieve self-sufficiency in renewable energy instead of relying on traditional energy that drains millions in its production. It is true that these projects have been included in the ministry’s plan for more than seven years, but it has not seen the light yet and is transferred from one fiscal year to another.

The sources warned of the continued state of stagnation and inaction that the ministry is experiencing, and its inability to propose and implement projects related to the production of renewable and alternative energy instead of relying on the Gulf interconnection network to compensate for the shortage of electricity. This includes accelerating the implementation of its integrated plan for the construction of new stations through international developers to finance, build and operate the power and water production stations, and through independent suppliers globally and in the Gulf countries, successfully.

By Mohammed Ghanem
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff