BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 16. Kuwait’s ambitious plan to generate 15% of its electricity from renewables by 2030 may fall short, a new analysis by Rystad Energy says, TurkicWorld reports.
The country currently sources less than 1% of its power from renewables, but projections show capacity will likely reach only 3.3 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade, covering about 7% of generation. The 15% target now appears more achievable by 2035, when renewable capacity could exceed 11 GW and account for around 20% of Kuwait’s electricity supply.
The outlook highlights mounting pressure on Kuwait’s aging power system, with peak demand reaching 17.7 GW this summer and unplanned outages causing shortages of more than 1.5 GW. Blackouts underscore the urgency of investment in both grid reliability and new capacity.
As renewables scale up gradually, natural gas is expected to play a pivotal role. Rystad projects Kuwait’s gas-fired generation will rise 17% to 77 terawatt-hours by 2030, supported by new domestic production and long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. Five large-scale gas plants under development are set to more than double capacity to over 32 GW by 2035.
