Kuwait tenders renewable projects

20 February 2023

Kuwait has tendered a contract for consultancy services relating to identifying opportunities to use renewable energy to add value at oil and gas facilities.

The company that wins the contract will supply consultancy services for a pre-feasibility study, according to the tender documents.

The clients are the two state-owned downstream operators Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) and Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic).

Five international engineering companies have prequalified to bid. They are:

  • Wood Group (UK)
  • Technip (France)
  • Dornier Suntrace (Germany)
  • Worley (Australia)
  • NexantECA (UK)

The closing date for bid submission is 16 March.

Renewables power supply

Oil and gas companies are increasingly looking at how renewable energy can be used to supply power at both upstream and downstream facilities.

Saudi Aramco first installed renewable power at one of its oil and gas installations in the 1980s, when it installed 10.9 volt photovoltaic panels for a remote cathodic protection station at Shedgum, a gas plant near Al-Hasa, an oasis region in eastern Saudi Arabia.

In 2019, Aramco’s Power Systems Renewables Department started deploying renewable energy technology across facilities including office buildings, industrial facilities and oil wells.

One of the sites where Aramco is using solar power is the Waad al-Shamal unconventional well site.

In a statement, Aramco said: “Not only is it a reliable and less expensive way to power the remote wells, but it also reduces carbon emissions and helps to save hydrocarbons for export by providing natural gas for the region’s power generation.”

Critics of Aramco have said that its use of renewable energy at its oil and gas installations has a minimal impact on carbon emissions and allows it to present its operations as environmentally friendly, when they are actually highly polluting.

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Wil Crisp
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