Gulf Countries Orientation of Renewable Energy - Research Paper Example

Gulf Countries’ Orientation of Renewable Energy By Introduction According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), renewable energy resources in the Gulf countries is just as abundant as traditional energy sources. An undisputed source of renewable energy in the Gulf countries is solar energy since sunshine is averaged at more than 9 hours daily (Held and Ulrichsen, 2012). Wind is also another abundant source of renewable energy in the GCC (Madrigal and Stoft, 2012). The potential for renewable energy sources in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is estimated to be at 600 MW (Alnaser and Alnaser, 2011). Given the potential for renewable energy in the GCC and the need for renewable energy due to large scale infrastructure development and reliance on energy, a number of renewable energy projects have been undertaken in the GCC states (Alnaser and Alnaser, 2011). This paper presents an overview of the renewable energy orientation in the Gulf countries. Renewable Energy Projects in the Gulf States Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) make up the six states in the GCC and are regarded as among the world’s ‘major oil and natural gas producing countries’ (Reiche, 2010: 2395). The GCC states are ranked among the world’s top 25 carbon dioxide emitters ‘per capita’ (Reiche, 2010: 2395). Due to infrastructure and economic development in the GCC, the demand for electricity has increased exponentially and the GCC states have been forced to consider renewable energy sources. With an abundant source of solar and wind energy, it is hardly surprising that the GCC countries have taken the initiative to plan for the implementation of renewable energy as a solution to the pending energy crisis brought on by high demands for electricity (Hertog and Luciani, 2009). There are three main advantages to GCC states in implementing renewable energy sources. The first advantage is a reduction in the cost of power plants together with reduced costs in the transmitting and distributing operations. Secondly, with reliance on renewable energy sources at home, the GCC states can increase their oil and natural gas exports which would normally be put to use locally and finally, GCC states would benefit from a reduction in carbon monoxide emissions from conventional power plants (Sharples and Radhi, 2013). The European Union (EU), as a driver of renewable energy elsewhere signed the EU-GCC Clean Energy Network agreement with the GCC in 2010. In signing the EU-GCC Lean Energy Network, the EU has undertaken to and taken action for the promotion and ‘transfer of expertise and best practices’ for renewable energy to GCC states (Ferroukhi, Doukas, Androulaki, Menichetti, Masini and Khalid, 2013: 5). Solar energy technologies have significant potential in the GCC which is regarded as existing in the ‘Sunbelt’ with ‘global horizontal irradiance (GHI) values ranging from 1,900 kWh/m2/y’ for Kuwait, 2.160 kWh/m2/y for Bahrain, and direct normal irradiance (DNI) ranging from 2,000 kWh/m2/y for Qatar and 2,500 kWh/m2/y for Saudi Arabia (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013: 10). Thus the GCC states are ‘one of the best endowed areas’ globally in terms of solar energy potential for photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013: 10). Thus conditions in the GCC are entirely supportive of solar technology with Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE among the top five countries in the Middle East and North Africa area for satisfactory solar energy technologies for PV and CSP installations. Saudi Arabia is possessed of high DNI values with copious hours of sunshine and significant amounts of ‘non-arable land’ (Colombo, 2014: 191). Oman also has a high DNI, 99.7% of its land is non-arable compared to 98.2% in Saudi Arabia and also has slightly more sunshine a day than Saudi Arabia. The UAE’s DNI is also high and 97% of its land is non-arable while sunshine is recorded to be at 9.5 hours daily (Colombo, 2014). The UAE opened the world’s largest ‘single-unit’ CSP plant worldwide in 2013 (Bollier, 2014). The plant known as Shams 1, involves the placement of mirrors in the sun where sunlight is reflected I the mirrors and temperatures increase to 400 degrees Celsius heating up a liquid which produces steam that in turn spins turbines that generate electricity for approximately 20,000 homes in the UAE (Bollier, 2014). Beginning in the 1990s, research and development on renewable energy began at the University of Bahrain. In 2007, Bahrain installed two wind turbines that produced 0.66 MW. In 2007, a committee was formed by the Electricity and Water Authority which is comprise of the Industry and Commerce Ministry, National Oil and Gas Authority, Bahrain Petroleum Company, Alba, the University of Bahrain and the Public Commission for Protection of Marine Resource, Environment and Wildlife (Jerath, Millerjothi, Karthiyayine and Sharma, 2015). The Committee made plans to install two solar and wind renewable energy plants for 2012. In 2010, a French construction company was commissioned to construct a 25 MW ‘waste-to-energy plant’ which should have began operations in 2013 (Jerath, et al., 2015: 243). In 2011, a renewable energy plant with 5 KW capabilities receiving 4 KW PVs and a 1.7 KW wind turbine was installed (Jerath, et al., 2015). Similar research and development projects and renewable energy plants have been implemented within the GCC states. However, as Ferroukhi, et al., (2013) reports, a majority of these projects are small and service a small population of GCC citizens. Specifically, Ferroukhi, et al. (2013: 14) noted that: Despite the large endowment of RE (renewable energy) (and particularly solar) resources, the current level of development in the GCC region does not exploit the vast potential. Most RE projects are small scale, and there is a general lack of coordination among the different entities and research centers in charge of developing the programs. Additional RE projects in the GCC states can be summarised as follows: Kuwait: Three projects which include wind turbine of 10MW, solar thermal heating of 50 MW and PV of 10 MW are all under bids (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013). Qatar has a planned and completed RE plant. The planned plant is a solar energy plant with 100 MW and the completed plant is a biomass of W2E, 40MW (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013). Oman has two completed plants and three planned plants. The planned projects are ambitious and include a CSP power plant with 50-200 MW, a solar powered desalination plant with 6000 litres an hour and a Biofuel data palm factory with 900,000 litres daily. The completed plants include PV plant of 6 MW and a solar thermal powered oil plant of 7MW (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013). Saudi Arabia has one solar desalination plant under construction, and five planned plants and three completed plants. The planned plants include a PV plant of 100 MW, a solar street light for a parking lot at 10MW, a biodiesel plant of 141-2 mi, pa and a PV plant for 1.8 MW. The completed plants are a solar rooftop PV with 2MW, a PV plant of 3.5 MW and solar water heating plant with 17 MW (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013). The UAE’s projects six planned projects and four completed projects. The planned projects include energy plant with 30 MW, a solar power plant with 40MW, a solar PV plant with 100 MW, a waste to energy plant with 100MW, a solar roof top plant with 500 MW and a floating solar island plant with 1MW. The completed projects are a rooftop energy generator with 1MW, a solar PV park with 10 MW, Shams 1 with 100 MW and a solar park with 13MW (Ferroukhi, et al., 2013). It is important to remember that renewable energy plans and potentials are a recent issue for the GCC states. For too long, GCC states have relied on non-renewable energy sources that precluded any thought or discussion about renewable energy sources. Non-renewable energy sources have been a cheap source of energy at the domestic level for GCC states. The use of cheap fuel at the domestic level rose in demand due to an increase in ‘energy-intensive industries such as petrochemicals, steel, and aluminium production and also in power generation (El-Katiri and Husain, 2014: 6). Today, the cost of solar and wind power technologies for generating renewable energy is significantly lower than the cost of producing energy through the use of traditional fuels and natural gas. In addition, the cost of oil although fluctuating worldwide, is usually on the rise with the understanding that supplies are running out. This is also the case in the GCC states where there is the realisation that natural gas and fuel supplies will eventually run its course (El-Katiri and Husain, 2014). Although, renewable energy provides an affordable and cost-saving alternative to oil products, the savings are not as obvious in terms of its comparison to the cost of natural gas. Since economic concerns are the main drivers of GCC states’ desire to convert to renewable energy sources, countries in the GCC such as Saudi Arabia that have high volumes of natural gas are not entirely sold on nor committed to renewable energy sources. However, despite these reservations about gas substitutes, GCC countries are still investing in ad planning for renewable energy sources (El-Katiri and Husain, 2014). Yet, there is a strong economic incentive for GCC states to commit to renewable energy sources. As the GCC states’ demand for energy increases, this means that energy sources that would normally be exported for higher returns will have to be diverted to domestic use (El-Katirir and Husain, 2014). Thus the incentive for renewable energy orientation in the GCC states is high and will only this incentive is expected to increase as more non-renewable energy sources are used at home. For the time being nuclear powered generators are also being used in the GCC states as a means of diverting domestic demands and feeding foreign demands for oil and natural gas energy suppliers (Alami, 2014). In the GCC, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the most advanced nuclear powered projects. The UAE is on a course for satisfying 25 percent of its electricity requirements of 5.6GW through nuclear power by the year 2020. Saudi Arabia aims to construct 16 nuclear power plants with a capacity for generating 17.6GW by the year 2032 (Alami, 2014). Nevertheless, the GCC continues to plan for installation of renewable energy sources. As it now stands renewable energy projects and plans in the GCC that are completed or under way are valued at US$4.5 billion. One billion dollars has been invested in hydro programmes which are situated in Saudi Arabia and the remaining US$3.5 billion has been invested in solar and wind, with solar energy taking the lion’s share of investments in renewable energy projects and plans (Alami, 2014). Saudi Arabia plans to supply 30% of its required energy through solar power by the year 2032. In the meantime, wind energy is beginning to receive more attention in the GCC states (Alami, 2014). Saudi Arabia has led the way in for expanding its renewable energy plans and has committed to investing US$100 billion in both nuclear and solar energy plants (Ventures Middle East, 2011). Qatar is next and announced plans to build a polysilicon plant capable of producing 8000 MTPY of solar energy. Operations began in 2013 (Ventures Middle East, 2011). This drive for renewable energy programmes is not only driven by a demand and supply question as it relates to domestic economic concerns. It is also driven by the GCC states’ desire to improve technology. The implementation of renewable energy plants provides GCC states with the opportunity to improve economic conditions at home and to advance its technological know-how through innovative renewable energy ambitions (Ahmad and Babar, 2013). Moreover, GCC states have implemented and enforced a policy which guarantees that the poor receive affordable energy. With the domestic demand for energy increasing exponentially, the GCC state’s incentive for renewable energy supplies is strengthened. In addition to the promise of affordable energy at home, the low prices of energy from traditional sources have contributed to ‘over consumption’ and in turn, increased carbon emissions at home (Charles, Moerenhout, and Bridle, 2014: 3). Moreover, with prices and demands for fuels from the GCC states fluctuating worldwide, GCC states recognize that renewable energy is a necessary safeguard against economic shocks (Charles, et al., 2014). Conclusion Renewable energy projects in the GCC states are well underway with the equivalent of billions of US dollars invested. These projects are spearheaded by research and development programmes that have slowed progress. As a result, renewable energy programmes that have been completed so far have been small when compared to the potential for renewable energy. Several projects have been identified in the literature indicating that upon completion, the GCC states could lead developing countries in the supply of renewable energy. Although the current renewable energy landscape in the GCC states is in its infancy, the amount of money and time invested in research and planning indicates that renewable energy programmes in the GCC states are on course for a complete overhaul of the energy sector at the domestic level. There are several reasons for predicting the success of the GCC’s energy renewable plans. First there is the large sums of money invested in these projects that are yet to be completed. Secondly, it is not economically viable for the GCC states to continue to supply traditional energy to its residents at a price much lower than the international market price. 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