ShareKUWAIT: The Supreme Planning Council recently submitted to the Cabinet a full vision on current water and electricity consumption rates and the challenges the oil sector is facing. The vision includes 14 recommendations to conserve electricity and water as well as reducing reliance on oil derivatives to generate electricity.
The report, prepared by a joint committee comprising of elements from the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW), Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), Environment Public Authority (EPA), Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait University (KU), Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), the National Technology Company and the technical apparatus for studying technical initiatives and projects, recommended:
- Reconsidering current prices and subsidies to increase fuel and electricity prices according to actual rates and encourage citizens to rationalize consumption.
- Adjusting collection methods and setting a limit to maximum consumption rates.
- Applying programmed cutting policies in case of exceeding the maximum limit and delay in paying consumption bills.
- Using more alternative energy to reduce reliance on oil derivatives in generating electricity and desalinating water.
- Providing more effective systems to control imported electrical appliances to make sure they are power-saving.
- Extending the Supreme Petroleum Council's liabilities to include responsibility for other sources of energy.
- Assessing the solar power use experience KFAS implemented in Zahra.
- Importing the latest technology to execute new projects and mandating the government and citizens to use them to stop wasting energy.
- Boosting public awareness concerning consumption rates.
- Passing new legislations that ban importing non-saving electrical appliances.
- Using modern technology to recycle water.
- Provide land, factories and raw material to encourage manufacturing appliances that help conserve power.
- Using alternative power in industries.
- Strictly imposing articles 122 and 123 of the environment law concerning environment-friendly specifications.
In addition, the National Technology Company offered building a number of solar power plants according to BOT systems offering at least 20 percent of those plants' shares for bidding amongst citizens so that the produced power could be handed over to the government to be distributed to citizens at subsidized prices. - Al-Anbaa
