Kuwait oil giant CEO eyes solar power move

The chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has said the company is looking at ways to increase the use of solar power.

Saad Al-Shuwaib said that KPC was reviewing various studies on the use of solar energy amid increasing global demands and the use of alternative energy.

Kuwait, an OPEC member, has one of the world's highest per capita power consumption rates.

Al-Shuwaib told KUNA News Agency that the company saw solar energy as "a vital resource due to the enormous amount of consumption in the region".

His comments follow news last month that Kuwait was planning to call a tender next year for a solar energy plant, and aims for five percent of total supply from renewable energy by 2020.

The Gulf state said it plans to boost power capacity to around 16,000 megawatts from 10,000 MW by 2012.

The world's fourth-largest oil exporter is facing rising energy demand and has experienced power cuts, especially during the hot summer months when air conditioning use rises.

In February, Kuwait's ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told daily newspaper al-Watan that the country was also considering developing nuclear power with the help of a French firm to meet demand for electricity and water desalination.