Kuwait is currently finalizing tender terms for a solar CSP EOR plant of capacity up to 100 MWth at Ratqa oilfield, and to launch the tender later this year. The oilfield owner Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) plans to use solar CSP steam for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to reduce natural gas consumption.

Industry sources say that some 11 CSP companies have pre-qualified to bid on the tender. “KOC will consider only proven CSP technologies that are compatible with solar EOR operation and can operate in Kuwait's harsh weather climate. We believe that parabolic trough or linear Fresnel will probably be better. However, we will not specify the technology. We will qualify companies based on their technologies, experience and track record,” KOC said. 

The new facility would supply 3,000 barrels of solar steam per day, equivalent to over one million barrels of steam per year. “If the upcoming tender in Kuwait is successful, KOC plans tender for additional capacity.”

In regions with high direct normal irradiance (DNI) levels, solar EOR offers heavy oil producers a competitive alternative to fossil fuel-fired energy production.

Kuwait, together with Oman, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. state of California is the most important solar EOR market. Both Kuwait and Oman are seeking positively for improving EOR-produced oil share, which will introduce great solar thermal capacity deployment for global solar CSP players. 

Related free Report: Oman 1G Solar EOR project by PDO & Glasspoint.

EOR is an attractive business case for CSP developers as the technology is used to generate steam rather than produce electricity, removing the need for a power block.

The first solar EOR project was developed by solar EOR specialist GlassPoint in 2011, when it installed a 300 kW project in the U.S. state of California. Since then, GlassPoint has installed a 7 MWth facility in Oman in 2013 and the company is currently developing the giant 1 GW Miraah solar EOR project in Oman, expected to be completed this year. The project will generate an average of 6,000 tons of solar steam daily for oil production, dwarfing all other solar EOR installations.

CSP Focus MENA 2017 Sept.13-14 Dubai conference will talk in deep on solar thermal industrial applications including electricity, EOR and desalination. Speakers are from Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, Saudi Electricity Company, ACWA Power, Abengoa, TSK, ACS Cobra, MESIA, DLR, KAUST, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology…

Click to get brochure/register for CSP Focus MENA 2017.