Unit-Based Emissions Inventory for Electric Power Systems in Kuwait: Current Status and Future Predictions

Abstract

Obtaining accurate estimates of emissions from electric power systems is essential for predicting air quality and evaluating the effectiveness of any future control technologies. This paper aimed to develop unit-based emissions inventories for electric power systems in Kuwait using different parameters, including fuel specifications and consumption, combustion technology and its efficiency, unit capacity, and boiler type. The study also estimated the future emissions of NOx, SO 2 , CO, CO 2 , and PM 10 up to the year 2030 using a multivariate regression model in addition to predicting future energy demand. The results showed that annual (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) emissions of all air pollutants, excluding SO 2 and PM 10 , increased over the study period. CO had the greatest increase of 41.9%, whereas SO 2 levels decreased the most by 13% over the 2010 levels, due to the replacement of heavy fuel oil. Energy consumption in 2015 stood at approximately 86 PJ, with natural gas, gas oil, crude oil, and heavy fuel oil making up 51.2%, 10.7%, 3.1%, and 35%, respectively. Energy demand was projected to grow at an annualized rate of 2.8% by 2030 compared to 2015 levels. The required installed capacity to meet this demand was estimated to be approximately 21.8 GW (a 34% increase in capacity compared to 2015 levels). The projected emission rates showed that, of the five air pollutants, SO 2 and PM 10 are expected to decrease by 2030 by 34% and 11%, respectively. However, peak monthly emissions of SO 2 would still only be 14% lower compared to the 2015 monthly average. In contrast, emission levels are projected to increase by 34.3%, 54.8%, and 71.8% for CO 2 , NOx, and CO, respectively, by 2030 compared to 2015 levels. Accordingly, a more ambitious target of renewables penetration needs to be adopted to reduce emission levels going forward.

Energy Demand in the State of Kuwait During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Technical, Economic, and Environmental Perspectives

“…The total emissions are around 119, 0.335 and 3.39 kilo-tonnes for CO 2 , CO and NO x , respectively, based on 2020 forecasting. These results were extracted from the environmental impact model and showed good agreement with the outcomes of a recent study implemented by Kuwait electric power systems [27].…”

A comparative analysis of the carbon dioxide emissions-energy profile in Kuwait: status quo versus 2030

“…Kuwait Energy is supplied by eight power plants, with a generation capacity of 18 Giga Watts (Ministry of Electricity and Water, 2017). All power plants are cogeneration plants that produce electricity and water (Alhajeri et al, 2019). The most common method for desalination in Kuwait is multistage flash (MSF) distillation technology.…”

Modeling the impact of reducing sulfur content of liquid fuels consumed by power plants on the air quality of Kuwait using AERMOD

“…To calculate the emission rates, the hourly unit-based fuel consumption rates were calculated and multiplied by the respective emission factors. The detailed approach for obtaining the hourly consumption rates for 2014 was discussed in Alhajeri et al (2018Alhajeri et al ( , 2019b. The emission factors were estimated using USEPA AP-42 for the designated fuel type and combustion technology at the respective power plants (USEPA, 1995).…”

“…To address this problem, power plants in Kuwait will be used as a case study to examine the proposed mitigation strategy. Most of power plants in Kuwait rely heavily on HFO and CO to meet the power demands, and both fuels have significantly high sulfur content (Alhajeri et al, 2019b;Alhajeri et al, 2018). In earlier work, Al-Fadhli et al (2019) examined the impact of fuel switching on minimizing the ambient SO2 concentrations; however, this paper will focus on the potential benefits of reducing sulfur content of liquid fuels on the air quality.…”