In 2023, Bahrain’s electricity consumption depended almost entirely on fossil fuels: gas supplied about 99.7%, leaving only around 0.3% for low-carbon electricity. Clean electricity therefore remained close to absent from the electricity mix. This overwhelming reliance on gas highlights the opportunity to expand low-carbon generation and reduce the climate impacts and air pollution associated with fossil fuels.

Is Electricity Growing in Bahrain?

Bahrain’s electricity consumption per person fell slightly in 2023 rather than setting a new record. It reached about 23,050 kWh per person, down roughly 240 kWh, or 1%, from the 2022 record of about 23,290 kWh. Low-carbon electricity generation per person, however, rose from 52 to 57 kWh—an increase of almost 10%, albeit from a very small base. That clean-electricity growth is encouraging, while the decline in consumption per person warrants attention as electrification and AI increase future electricity needs. These figures alone do not establish whether total national electricity consumption grew.

Suggestions

Bahrain should prioritize solar expansion while considering nuclear electricity through domestic development or regional cooperation. Nearby regions offer useful examples: the United Arab Emirates generates about one-fifth of its electricity from nuclear, while Jordan obtains about 15% from solar and Cyprus almost a quarter. Bahrain can also learn from the sunny US state of Nevada, where solar supplies more than a third of electricity. Rooftop installations, solar-covered parking areas and larger solar projects could broaden Bahrain’s clean electricity supply, supported by storage and grid investment. Nuclear could complement solar with steady low-carbon generation; France, which obtains about two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear, demonstrates its potential at scale.

History

From 2020 through 2023, the supplied historical series records zero TWh of year-on-year change in Bahrain’s solar electricity generation each year. At the precision shown, this indicates no recorded increase across those four years, rather than proving that solar generation itself was zero. The lack of visible progress is disappointing given Bahrain’s opportunity to develop solar electricity. The small rise in low-carbon generation per person in 2023 does not establish a substantial increase in total generation, underscoring the need for a sustained expansion of clean electricity.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade