Abstract

Renewable Energy Development in Kuwait: Obstacles and Opportunities

Kuwait is one of the highest carbon emitting countries per capita in the world with renewable energy resources severely underutilized in its energy portfolio. This paper examines the country’s goals and progress towards meeting the standards set by the Paris Agreement, as well as provides a basic overview of some of the various opportunities and obstacles associated with further utilization of renewable technologies. The paper suggests that Kuwait’s high incident irradiation and strong seasonal winds make for attractive resources to harvest. The technical challenges associated with generation uncertainty have been reported to be relatively minimal in the currently-operational plant in Shagaya, and are expected to be further minimized with recent innovations in the field. Economic and legislative obstacles that face renewable energy in Kuwait include the governments’ heavy subsidization of energy and the absence of a government entity to oversee achieving renewable goals. The low cost of oil production in Kuwait hinders investment in renewables; however, as fuel prices grow and renewable energy costs drop, the economic scales are quickly shifting.

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