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Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath PHD Photovoltaic Energy in Kuwait: A Financial and Environmental Analysis Alazemi, Fahad Award date: 2017 Awarding institution: University of Bath Link to publication Alternative formats If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact: [email protected] General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 Photovoltaic Energy in Kuwait: A Financial and Environmental Analysis Fahad Kh. Alazemi A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Mechanical Engineering June 2017 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with the author. A copy of this thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author. This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation. Signature ......................................................... SUMMARY This research is concerned with the drivers to utilize Renewable Energy in Gulf Cooperation Council countries with a focus on Kuwait. Such countries show high rates of electricity subsidies with high rate of emissions. At present, there is a continuous need to build new power stations to increase the electrical capacities, in order to cover the high peak loads that occurs in summers to avoid blackouts. The aim of this research is to create a combination of approaches to assess the adoption (economic and environmental) of Photovoltaic for electricity generation in Kuwait, which can be used to assist policy makers to compare various energy mixes and hence determine whether their current and future strategies are appropriate. Kuwait is in this research representative of an exemplar of oil-based economy in Gulf Cooperation Council region since they share similar energy policies and geographic location. The research provides an insight into the adoption of renewables in the region and the impact that particular energy mixes may have. Nine future potential scenarios are created showing different levels of PV deployment within Kuwait. The combination of approaches in this research estimates the economic and environmental impacts using Levelized Cost of Electricity and Life Cycle Assessment respectively of differing RE mixes. The findings show that energy storage increases the cost of electricity and the emissions from the photovoltaic sector. However, for the energy mix (PV and conventional), assuming oil price greater than 10.1$/Bbl. (when no storage required) and 15.2$/Bbl. (when using storage), PV generally lowers the cost of electricity, CO2 and SO2 emissions. Whilst, human toxicity is increased when storage is used. Taking all these factors into account, PV deployment is generally beneficial. However, if different combinations of impacts are considered, environmental and economic impacts may take different patterns. This led to a multi- objective problem to be solved. Using Pareto Front analysis, scenarios without storage requirement (i.e. 13% or less of photovoltaic) are preferable if only cost and human toxicity are considered. The contribution to knowledge from this research is that the deployment of large scale PV technology is beneficial in Kuwait economically and environmentally at least until 30% of i the maximum peak load of electricity. The results have implications for other GCC countries with similar geographical, political and energy drivers; the methodology used in this research would be appropriate for these contexts. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank God. You have given me the strength and patience in these most difficult years. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Prof. Linda Newnes and Dr. Steve Cayzer, for their continuous support and motivation in my doctoral studies and research. My deepest thanks to my mother, Mona, for her continuous support and encouragement through my studies. My father, Khalid, my brothers and sister, I couldn’t have accomplished this without your supportive love. I also like to extend my full thanks to my true friends who have always been there for me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 THE GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL REGION ...................................................................................... 2 1.2 KUWAIT ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 SCOPE OF RESEARCH ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.4AIM AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.5THESIS STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................................... 7 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 DRIVERS FOR RE ....................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1 ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS .................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 POLITICAL DRIVERS ............................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1.3 ENERGY SOURCE: GLOBAL DRIVER FOR CHANGE ...................................................................................... 12 2.2 GCC CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................ 13 2.2.1 GLOBAL OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COUNTRIES ................................................................................................... 15 2.2.3 CHALLENGES FOR INVESTING RE IN GCC COUNTRIES .............................................................................. 17 2.2.4 DRIVERS FOR RE IN GCC ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2.3 KUWAIT DRIVERS FOR PV TECHNOLOGY ......................................................................................... 20 2.3.1 KUWAIT ECONOMIC DRIVERS FOR PV ............................................................................................................ 22 2.3.2 KUWAIT ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS FOR PV ............................................................................................... 23 2.3.3 OTHER DRIVERS FOR PV IN KUWAIT ............................................................................................................... 25 2.4 SUMMARY AND RESEARCH GAP .......................................................................................................... 27 3. KUWAIT CONDITION ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 29 3.1 KUWAIT ELECTRICITY CURRENT STATE .......................................................................................... 29 3.2 FUTURE PROJECTS PLAN .......................................................................................................................... 34 3.3 SCENARIOS SELECTION ............................................................................................................................. 37 3.4 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................. 40 4. METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 41 4.1 ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................... 42 4.1.1 LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) ............................................................................................................................ 42 4.1.2 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PV POWER PLANT ...............................................................................................
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