Publications

Viability of Seasonal Natural Gas Storage in the Saudi Energy System

Walid Matar, Rami Shabaneh

Saudi Arabia expects to double its natural gas production within the next decade. This increased domestic supply is expected to meet the demand for gas from Saudi Arabia’s industrial development and, most importantly, to displace liquid fuels in its electricity…

Matar, Walid

Shabaneh, Rami

A Household’s Power Load Response to a Change in the Electricity Pricing Scheme: An Expanded Microeconomic-physical Approach

Research Gate

Energy economists are interested in how changes in electricity prices prompt a response in end-user electricity demand. If historical prices are low or seldom change, it becomes difficult to estimate price elasticities statistically , especially in the short-run. Thus, a…

Walid Matar

KAPSARC’s Contribution to Evaluating the Impact of Price Controls

Axel Pierru, Walid Matar

The European Journal of Operational Research has just published a paper, “Measuring the effects of price controls using mixed complementarity models” (2019). It detailed a series of innovative modeling approaches developed by KAPSARC researchers over the last six years. The…

Pierru, Axel

Matar, Walid

Households’ Demand Response to Changes in Electricity Prices: A Microeconomic-Physical Approach

Walid Matar

Energy economists are interested in how a change in electricity prices prompts a response by way of end-user power demand. It is difficult to estimate price elasticities statistically if historical prices are low and change infrequently, especially in the short…

Matar, Walid

The Economics of Renewable Energy in the Gulf

Hisham Akhonbay, Imtenan Al-Mubarak, Sylvain Côté, Amro Elshurafa, Walid Matar, Shreekar Pradhan, David Wogan, Lama Yaseen

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) has been at the epicenter of global energy markets because of its substantial endowment of hydrocarbons. Yet countries in the region have also stated their intent to be global…

Akhonbay, Hisham

Al-Mubarak, Imtenan

Côté, Sylvain

Elshurafa, Amro

Matar, Walid

Pradhan, Shreekar

Wogan, David

Yaseen, Lama

The responsiveness of fuel demand to gasoline price change in passenger transport: a case study of Saudi Arabia

Energy Efficiency

Empirical estimates of fuel demand changes to price variation are based on historical consumption and prices, and can be applied as a single point estimate to a wide range of price movements. However, if fuel prices are set outside the…

Ibrahim M. Algunaibet, Walid Matar

Households’ response to changes in electricity pricing schemes: Bridging microeconomic and engineering principles

Energy Economics

This paper presents a computational take on households’ response to price changes. Many studies use assumptions (i.e., price elasticities) that were estimated using historical information; however, if a price change has not been experienced in the past, the response may…

Walid Matar

Electricity transmission formulations in multi-sector national planning models: An illustration using the KAPSARC energy model

Energy Reports

The purpose of this study is to assess the policy-relevant effects of incorporating a more proper representation of electricity transmission in multi-sector national policy models. This goal is achieved by employing the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM), which is the first…

Walid Matar, Amro Elshurafa

Electricity Transmission Formulations in Multi-Sector National Planning Models: An illustration using the KAPSARC Energy Model

Walid Matar, Amro Elshurafa

The purpose of this study is to assess policy-relevant effects of incorporating a more proper representation of electricity transmission in multi-sector national policy models. This goal is achieved by employing the KAPSARC Energy Model (KEM), which is the first publicly…

Matar, Walid

Elshurafa, Amro

Adding Solar PV to the Saudi Power System: What is the Cost of Intermittency?

Energy Transitions

Amro Elshurafa, Walid Matar

Adding Photovoltaics to the Saudi Power System: What are the Costs of Intermittency?

Energy Transitions 1

Walid Matar, Amro Elshurafa

Reforming Industrial Fuel and Residential Electricity Prices in Saudi Arabia

Walid Matar

The Saudi electricity sector buys fuel and sells electricity at prices administered by the government. In this analysis, we assume that fuel prices are deregulated — priced at their marginal values or international equivalents — and use a long-term static…

Matar, Walid

Striking a balance between profit and carbon dioxide emissions in the Saudi cement industry

International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control

Cement manufacturing is a major industry in Saudi Arabia. As a highly polluting sector, it may be part of CO2 abatement policy for the country. This paper presents a multi-criteria analysis to examine how two competing objectives affect the performance…

Walid Matar, Amro Elshurafa

A look at the response of households to time-of-use electricity pricing in Saudi Arabia and its impact on the wider economy

Energy Strategy Reviews

Households in Saudi Arabia account for about half of domestic electricity demand. This high level of consumption is partly due to historically low prices. These prices have also been flat throughout the day. Policymakers are exploring different pricing policies to…

Walid Matar

Jointly reforming the prices of industrial fuels and residential electricity in Saudi Arabia

Energy Policy

The Saudi electricity sector currently buys fuel and sells electricity at prices administered by the government. In this analysis, we illustratively explore combining the reform of the fuel prices used in power plants with the implementation of alternative electricity pricing…

Walid Matar, Murad Anwer

Efficient industrial energy use: The first step in transitioning Saudi Arabia’s energy mix

Energy Policy

In Saudi Arabia, industrial fuel prices are administered below international prices and firms make decisions based on low energy prices, increasing domestic energy demand. This analysis explores alternative policies designed to induce a transition to a more efficient energy system…

Walid Matar, Frederic Murphy, Axel Pierru, Bertrand Rioux, David Wogan

Adding Photovoltaics to the Saudi Power System: What are the Costs of Intermittency?

Amro Elshurafa, Walid Matar

Intermittent generation from wind or photovoltaics (PV) imposes a cost on the power systems in which they are deployed. These costs vary regionally due to different fuel costs and ramping flexibility of existing grid capacities. With 2015 as a reference…

Elshurafa, Amro

Matar, Walid

The prospects for coal-fired power generation in Saudi Arabia

Energy Strategy Reviews

Almost all of Saudi Arabia’s electric power generation is fueled by oil and gas. Plans for future capacity envisage nuclear and renewables supplementing this mix and thereby freeing up oil for other revenue-generating opportunities. Coal-fired generation has been promoted in…

Walid Matar, Rodrigo Echeverri, Axel Pierru

The Responsiveness of Fuel Demand to Gasoline Price in Passenger Transport

Walid Matar

Empirical estimates of fuel demand changes to price variation are based on historical consumption and prices, and can be applied as a single point estimate to a wide range of price movements. However, if fuel prices are set outside the…

Matar, Walid

Beyond the end-consumer: how would improvements in residential energy efficiency affect the power sector in Saudi Arabia?

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency in buildings has garnered significant attention in Saudi Arabia. This paper outlines the potential effects of higher residential efficiency on electricity load profiles in the Kingdom. It further presents the associated benefits that could have been realized by…

Walid Matar