2011 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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II. H
OT CLIMATE COUNTRY
:
CASE STUDY OF KUWAIT
A. Kuwait Climate and Summer
Kuwait has climate conditions that are similar to those
in Saudi Arabia. It is a hot-climate country located
northwest of the Arabian Gulf (at 29.22º N latitude and
47.98º E longitude) and is 55 m above sea level. It has
harsh outside climate conditions with average ambient
temperature of around 45 ˚C during the summer months
[12], which requires the use of air conditioning systems
from April through October. Buildings in Kuwait are
subject to high ambient air temperatures and to strong
solar radiation, which reaches as high as 940 W/m2 on a
horizontal surface in the summer [13]. Fig. 5 shows the
variation of dry bulb temperature on a hot summer day.
Fig. 5. Variation of dry-bulb temperature on a hot summer day in
Kuwait [13].
B. Electricity Generation in Kuwait
Electrical energy in Kuwait is generated by
conventional steam power plants, which depend primarily
on fuel oil. Continued use of the current power plant
technology that depends extensively on Kuwait oil will
have severe adverse impacts on the country's economy,
considering that oil is the major source of national
income. A study of the local consumption of Kuwait’s oil
for power generation and water desalination projected
that, in about 30 years, the total oil production may not be
enough to provide fresh drinking water for people and
allow them to live in air-conditioned spaces [14]. In
addition to the economic background of this issue, the
combustion of increasing quantities of oil to generate
electricity will have adverse environmental impacts
locally and globally due to the large quantities of CO2
that will be emitted into the atmosphere. Oil-fired power
plants in Kuwait emit 0.72 kg of CO2 for every kWh of
electricity generated [15].
I
II
. A
NALYSIS OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN
KUWAIT
In light of the facts about factors that affect energy
consumption in the world in general, and in hot countries
in particular, in this paper we have proposed a simple
technique to determine the significant factor that affects
electrical energy consumption in hot climates. Using
Kuwait as an example, the proposed technique was used
to analyze the statistics related to national annual
electrical energy consumption. The first step was to
obtain the maximum and minimum monthly electrical
energy consumption in Kuwait using the annual electrical
statistical book for the year 2006 [16], as shown in Fig.
6.
Fig. 6. Monthly maximum and minimum electrical energy demand in
Kuwait in 2006.
Because we aim to verify the contribution of
residential cooling as a significant factor for energy use in
hot climates, we must first identify the operation period
of air conditioning systems. Air conditioning in the
Kuwaiti residential sector is from the beginning of April
to the end of October [17]. Moreover, according to our
observation, no heating is required during the second half
of February and March. Now, based on the maximum
and minimum electrical demands obtained from Fig.6, the
estimation of the suspected electrical energy required for
operating air-conditioning systems during peak usage
days in the summer can be made by taking the difference
between maximum and minimum demands during the
year. According to Fig. 6, the minimum system demand
was about 2710 MWe at 14:00 hours on February 25,
2006 [16]. As we mentioned earlier, the lowest demand
was in February because the temperature was relatively
moderate and no heating or cooling systems were
required during this month. Also, most of the lighting
systems in the buildings and on the streets are switched
off at this hour (14:00). The maximum demand was 8900
MWe, and it occurred at 15:30 on July 26, 2006, at which
time the highest outside temperature for the year occurred
[16]. Consequently, the difference between the minimum
demand and the maximum demand was 6190 MWe,
which amounts to about 69.5% of the total energy
generated at the maximum demand in the year. The
difference herein is expected due to the operation of air-
conditioning systems in all buildings in Kuwait. Yet, to
verify the share of residential sector air conditioning, we
must know the percentage of residential buildings among
all buildings types in Kuwait. Residential buildings
represent about 84% of all buildings in Kuwait [16].
Using the percentage obtained on the national level for
the energy consumption attributed to air-conditioning,
i.e., 69.5%, it can be said that residential air-conditioners
consume 58.4 % of the total electrical energy delivered
by power plants at peak usage time on a hot summer day
in Kuwait. Accordingly, this can confirm that residential
