Utilities Middle East - April 2010 by ITP Business Publishing

Middle East

ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS FOR MIDDLE EAST WATER,, GAS SA AND ND E ND ELECTRICITY L CT LE PROFESSIONALS

April 2010

• Vol 4. Issue 4

DESALINATION DEBATE

The hottest trends in the desalination sector

CAPABLE CABLE

How to ensure cable is of the best quality

Electrical experts Eaton talk energy efficiency

Licensed by Dubai Media City

SCADA SYSTEMS: THE EFFICIENCY ENABLING PROCESS EXPLAINED How can SCADA technology improve the efﬁciency of a country’s power grid? ITP BusinessPublication Publication An An ITP Business

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CONTENTS

April 2010 Issue 4

2 COMMENT How important is efficiency in the utilities sector?

4 REGIONAL UPDATE A round-up of some of the biggest headlines in the region.

10 NEWS ANALYSIS Booz & Company reports on which are the most feasible renewable energy resources in the Middle East.

13 SCADA SYSTEMS

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Xxx XXx xx xxxxx xxxxxxx xx xxxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxxxxxx xxx Solar power in the Middle East.

Egypt president Hosni Mubarak.

SCADA systems can be used with all types of power.

10 13

Utilities Middle East reports on the growing influence of SCADA systems on the utilities sector in the region.

18 EATON INTERVIEW Eaton’s global COO talks to Utilities Middle East about his company’s restructure and energy efficiency.

24 DESALINATION TRENDS What are the current trends in the desalination sector and how are these changing?

27 EGYPT FOCUS A comprehensive profile of the power and water sectors in Egypt and a look at the country’s future.

31 CABLE REVIEW

The cables sector is facing challenges.

What challenges is the cabling sector in the Middle East facing and how are companies in this region addressing these issues?

38 TENDERS Opportunities available in the Middle East.

40 PEOPLE METER

Tawﬁq Abu Soud, Drake and Scull.

www.utilities-me.com

ABB’s Noaman Amjad talks to Utilities Middle East about his firm’s progress in the region and how to overcome a downturn.

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Utilities Middle East 1

COMMENT Middle East

Ever-important efﬁciency Companies need not lose sight of the minor details

Registered at Dubai Media City PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: 00 971 4 210 8000, Fax: 00 971 4 210 8080 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Dubai & London ITP Business Publishing Ltd CEO Walid Akawi Managing Director Neil Davies Deputy Managing Director Matthew Southwell Editorial Director David Ingham VP Sales Wayne Lowery Publishing Director Jason Bowman Editorial Group Editor Dan Canty Tel: +971 4 210 8255 email: daniel.canty@itp.com Senior Writer Peter Ward Tel: +971 4 210 8662 email: peter.ward@itp.com Contributors Ventures, Chris Sell Advertising Commercial Director Jude Slann Tel: +971 4 210 8693 email: judith.slann@itp.com Sales Manager Raed Kaedbey Tel: +971 4 210 8573 email: raed.kaedbey@itp.com Studio Group Art Editor Daniel Prescott Designer Angela Ravi Photography Director of Photography Sevag Davidian Chief Photographer Khatuna Khutsishvili Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Thanos Lazopoulos, Staff Photographers Jovana Obradovic, Rajesh Raghav, Ruel Pableo, Lyubov Galushko, Isidora Bojovic Production & Distribution

Utilities in the Middle East are continually looking for new ways to improve their efﬁciency, particularly in the power sector.

t can be important at times to take a step away from the bigger picture and appreciate the smaller details. This is true in general life, and true in the utilities sector. When we talk about smart grids and energy efficiency matters on a large scale, we can sometimes not notice the smaller things we could be doing to save energy. In an interview with Utilities Middle East this month, Eaton’s Thomas Gross alludes to exactly this point. “I think there is so much we can do right now to save energy and quite often we associate energy conservation with longer term things like the smart grid. I think it will be enormously helpful to have a smart grid and distributed power generation.” “But if you look around today and see how much energy is being wasted, our message would be let’s get going on that now because there is tremendous savings that can be easily financially justified without government incentives or incentives from the utilities,” he says. Energy efficiency can be as simple as turning off a light switch when you leave the room, or as

complex as a multi-billion dollar grid change, but both need not be forgotten and it can be argued that both are as important as each other. Gross goes into more depth on the topic of energy efficiency in this month’s interview feature. Another aspect of energy efficiency are the systems which are used by the sector. One such type of system is SCADA, another subject covered in this month’s issue. Cables are another area where efficiency plays a huge part. With the amount of electricity being lost down cables startlingly high in some cases, it seems whoever comes up with the most efficient product could be in the position to clean up in a very profitable market, and provide a valuable service to the sector at the same time. Efficiency can be used as a horrible marketing term, or even worse, management talk. But until we invent a new phrase, we need to keep striving towards new levels of efficiency, whether on a small or large scale.

● April 2010

Circulation Head of Circulation & Database Gaurav Gulati Marketing Marketing Manager Daniel Fewtrell ITP Digital Director Peter Conmy ITP Group Chairman Andrew Neil Managing Director Robert Serafin Finance Director Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Board of Directors K.M. Jamieson, Mike Bayman, Walid Akawi, Neil Davies, Rob Corder, Mary Serafin Circulation Customer Service Tel: +971 4 210 8000

Certain images in this issue are available for purchase. Please contact itpimages@itp.com for further details or visit www.itpimages.com. Printed by Atlas Printing Press LLC, Subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review.

Peter Ward, Senior Writer E-mail: peter.ward@itp.com

To subscribe please visit www.itp.com/subscriptions 2 Utilities Middle East

Group Production Manager Kyle Smith Deputy Production Manager Matthew Grant Production Coordinator Devaprakash Managing Picture Desk Patrick Littlejohn General Manager - Regional Distribution Shaded Ali Shaded Distribution Manager Karima Ashwell Distribution Executive Nada Al Alami

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REGIONAL UPDATE

DEWA awards $852m contracts Contracts for water and electricity projects with various firms signed at WETEX 2010 DEWA announced six new contracts were signed during WETEX 2010, for projects in both the electricity and water sectors. The CEO and managing director of DEWA, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer signed the contracts on behalf of DEWA and its partners. The ﬁrst contract was awarded to ABB and was worth AED250 million (US$68 million). The scope of work included supplying, installing, testing and commissioning of three 132/11kV substations. Areva T&D was awarded the second contract, worth AED 1.030 billion (US$272 million), which involved three 132/11kV substations in various areas of Dubai, including Dubai Investment Park, Jebel Ali Industries Area, Mutina, Kifaf and other places. Areva will supply, install, test and commission these substations. The third contract was awarded to Ducab to supply 800km of 11kV XLPE power cable worth AED260 million (US$70 million) while the fourth contract went to Ghantoot

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, DEWA CEO and managing director announced the deals at the Wetex Exhibition in Dubai.

Gulf Contracting to supply, install, test and commission glass reinforced epoxy water transmission pipelines and associated works in Dubai. The total cost for these works

is AED820 million (US$223 million). M/S Saudi Modern Co. Dubai was awarded a contract to supply, install, test and commission 132kV of cables to 132/11kV substations at a

value of AED300 million (US$81 million) and Siemens was contracted to supply, install, test and commission Mamzer beach substations at a cost of AED470million (US$128 million).

DSI secures Abu Dhabi utility contract GE, ADAT gas turbine repair Drake and Scull Water and Power (DSWP) has won a contract for the entire development works at the residential compound located in Khalifa A City, Abu Dhabi. The firm was awarded the district cooling works at the same compound and will now begin work on infrastructure such as sewer lines, irrigation, telecommunications services, fire fighting, sub stations and all related civil works. “This contract win marks the eighth for DSI in 2010, bringing the total value of the projects awarded to date to AED 1 billion. Reaching such a milestone so early in the

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April 2010

year has exceeded our expectations,” said Khaldoun Tabari, CEO and vice chairman of DSI. “One of the motivating factors for us in deciding to form a business stream dedicated to managing and controlling Infrastructure, Water and Power (IWP) works was the surety that we would continuously have a demand in the market to cater to – this has indeed been the case till now due to the non diminishing demand for water and power, which are the basic elements needed in any community,” Tawﬁq Abu Soud, executive director of DSWP commented.

facility inaugurated in UAE GE and Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) have announced the innauguration of the gas turbine repair facility in Abu Dhabi. The facility, run by Gulf Turbine Services (GTS) a joint venture between GE and ADAT, offers repair services to a number of different industries using gas turbines in the region. The expansion of the GTS facility supports our strategy to provide world-class turnaround times for our regional municipal, utility

and industrial customers, including faster turnaround times on repair projects and faster delivery of repaired components,” said Ahmed Al Moosa, ADAT’s executive vice president for Industrial Business and chairman of GTS. “This latest investment in the GTS facility further expands our capabilities to provide quality repair services to meet the growing needs of our customers throughout the region,” said Joseph Anis, GE Energy’s president for the Middle East. www.utilities-me.com

REGIONAL UPDATE

Top Masdar execs quit Rethink ordered after two high ranking executives quit project Two of Masdar City’s most senior executives have quit the project, with CEO Sultan Al Jaber now understood to be enforcing a ‘rethink’ of the development. Arabian Business reported that both Ziad Tassabehji and Khaled Awad have left the $22bn development – billed as the world’s ﬁrst zero-carbon city - in recent weeks. Tassabehji, the former director of Innovation and Investments, was widely seen as a ‘founding father’ of the project. He was on both the executive and investment committees of the Masdar Clean Tech Fund. Awad, as director of property development, also played a key role. Just last month, he assured reporters that the project was “on track” to open in 2013. However, the director quit his post soon afterwards. Asked about the resignations, a spokesperson for Masdar said: “It’s normal for fast growing global companies to see staff turnover as they evolve; people will always come and

Masdar CEO Sultan Al Jaber has apprently ordered a rethink of the Masdar project.

go and we are very comfortable with the change.” In 2007, Masdar unveiled ambitious plans to invest in renewable energy projects such as the world’s ﬁrst city to rely entirely on solar energy and other renewable energy sources for power. However, Arabian Business understands that Masdar CEO Sultan Al Jaber has now asked for a comprehensive six-week review of the project’s original plans. This began two weeks ago and is expected to completed shortly.

Asked whether this meant the project was now effectively suspended for a month, the spokesperson said: “Masdar City continues to move forward. All projects - especially those of a visionary nature require a constant process of review, evaluation and scaling to ensure the execution of the vision matches the needs of the market and the developments of the business. “Masdar is by deﬁnition a work in progress. Our development activities constantly inform the way we manage and evolve our projects.”

AECOM clinches Abu Dhabi sewerage contract AECOM has won a contract with Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) for two projects providing facilities for isolated properties in the Emirate. The ﬁrst project involves the design and construction supervision of sewerage connections and related works for isolated properties in Abu Dhabi. The second of the projects

involves the design and construction supervision of wastewater relocation works under roads and utility schemes in Abu Dhabi. ADSSC managing director, Alan Thomson said that the projects were part of the company’s AED24 billion investment programme over the next ﬁve years which will prepare Abu Dhabi to meet the Emirates 2030

AED24 billion The value of AECOM’s investment programme over the next five years in Abu Dhabi www.utilities-me.com

Vision with a “state of the art” wastewater infrastructure. “ADSSC has a very large programme of work requiring expertise from around the globe. Our relationship with AECOM is an important element of program delivery and we are pleased to continue our relationship with AECOM following the award of these contracts,” he added. “These two new wins build upon our existing successful working relationship with ADSSC and is testament to the conﬁdence that ADSSC has in AECOM providing expertise much needed in a fast growing part of the country,” David Barwell, chief executive for AECOM in the Middle East said.

HIGHLIGHTS SAUDI NEEDS TO INVEST MORE IN POWER, WATER - BSF Saudi Arabia needs to raise its investments in its power and water supply industries by a third to at least $266.7 billion through 2025 to meet rising domestic demand, Banque Saudi Fransi said. Demand for water and power is growing around 8 percent annually in the most populous Gulf Arab country of 25 million.

IRAN TO BUILD POWER PLANTS IN ECUADOR Iran plans to build two power plants in Ecuador, first vice president Mohammad Reza Rahimi has been reported as saying. “Both sides agreed to expand cooperation in all fields,” he said, prior to Ecuadorian first vice president Lenin Moreno leaving, IRNA reported. “Iranian experts will soon start building two power plants in that country,” he added. Oil cooperation was also discussed during the meeting, as the two countries look to strengthen ties.

PHILIPS PUSHES ENERGY EFFICIENCY BOOST Philips is to participate in the Gulf Environment Forum as the sustainable lighting partner in Jeddah this month. The company will be present on the panel discussion ‘Ingraining Environmental Sustainability Practices in the Region’ as part of the drive to boost energy efﬁciency. Philips announced its decision to phase-out the sale of home use incandescent lamps in the GCC as of September

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Utilities Middle East 5

REGIONAL UPDATE

HIGHLIGHTS IRAN AND QATAR TO BUILD ELECTRIC BOARD FACTORY Iran and Qatar are to set up an electric board manufacturing plant in the next three months, local media has reported. The announcement was made during a meeting between the governor general of Iran’s southern province of Bushehr Abutaleb Shaffeqat and Qatari Minister of State for International Cooperation and Conferences Khalid Bin Mohammad. During the meeting, Bin Mohammad stressed the country’s preparedness to expand cooperation with Iran, especially in economic ﬁelds, Fars News Agency reported.

MWH ANNOUNCES BOARD OF DIRECTORS SHAKEUP MWH Global has announced a major shakeup of its board of directors, with three new appointments being made this month. The ﬁrm, which works in the wet infrastructure sector, has revealed Sir John Vereker, David Barnes and Wim Drossaert have all been appointed to the board of directors.

ABB SECURES ABU DHABI WATER CONTRACT ABB has won a turnkey order worth US$144million from the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO) for a major expansion of a water transmission system in Abu Dhabi. The project will help increase the volume of water supplied by the Shuewihat Power and Desalination Plant to the capital of the UAE, by increasing the capacity of two pumping stations.

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April 2010

Kuwait wants nuclear Kuwait minister reveals nuclear power committee formed Kuwait is aiming to have a nuclear power station operational within seven years, a Kuwaiti minister told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). Kuwait’s Minister of Electricity and Water Bader Al-Shuraiaan made the announcement while attending an international conference in Paris on peaceful usage of nuclear energy. KUNA also reported that HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah has formed a special committee to undertake the task of acquiring and using the nuclear energy in line with international treaties and resolutions. A special team has also been assigned to decide on the site for the nuclear reactor and AlShuraiaan said it was likely to be up and running in seven years. The minister also said that there are plans to launch a solar power station and that several foreign companies have tendered for investment in the venture. At the Paris conference yesterday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that nuclear energy has become a basic issue for the future of mankind and he called on the international community to ﬁnd ways to fund nuclear power facilities in countries facing power shortages.

Kuwait is looking seriously at nuclear power options and has formed a committee.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Kuwait’s electricity sector has enough reserves to avoid having to resort to programmed power cuts. Iyad Al-Falah, assistant undersecretary for technical services at the Ministry of Electricity and Water told the Kuwait Electricity Conference and Exhibition that the country had enough reserves at present and that any programmed cuts would be implemented as a “last solution”, according to a report in the Kuwait Times newspaper. “If people come across announcements about programmed power

cuts, it will be caused by maintenance work performed on some generators,” Al-Falah is quoted as saying. Al-Falah added that the expansion of development plans over the past few years had put pressure on supply. “The greatest challenge is the increasing demand of power supply as a result of the expansion of development projects that have been growing rapidly during the past few years. This caused the need to build new stations and renew existing ones to match with this rise according to the best international standards,” he said.

Al Mostajed and OSI secure FEWA contract Al Mostajed Technologies, along with partner Open Systems International (OSI) has been awarded a contract by FEWA to deliver an integrated SCADE/EMS/DMS as part of a turnkey project to build and commission a new load dispatch centre for the Northern Emirates. The two ﬁrms together will provide a uniﬁed control system for management of the UAE’s transmission grid and part of its distri-

bution grid. It is hoped the new system will improve and modernise the control centre operations of FEWA through the deployment of real-time supervisory control, high voltage network analysis and distribution and outage management applications. The system will be supported by the monarch platform. “The monarch system will provide FEWA with the platform for achieving a Smart Grid which will

enable them to meet the challenges to provide high quality and reliable power supply to consumers,” stated Bharath Kumar, director of international operations, OSI. “This system will provide FEWA with the capability to provide clean and efﬁcient energy to its consumers while increasing customer service through the Outage Management System”, said S.M. Hasan, director of Al Mostajed Technologies. www.utilities-me.com

REGIONAL UPDATE

UAE power demand to triple Minister suggests nuclear power to play big role in meeting increasing demand Electricity demand in the UAE is likely to triple by 2020, and nuclear energy is to play a key role in addressing future needs, a top official has said. UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said the countr y’s interest in nuclear power was “motivated by the need to develop additional sources of electricity to meet future demand projections and to ensure the continued rapid development of its economy”. In comments published by the news agency WAM, he continued: “Analysis conducted by official UAE entities has concluded

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that national annual peak demand for electricity is likely to triple by 2020, reflecting a cumulative annual growth rate of roughly 9%.” “In evaluating different options to meet this demand, nuclear energy emerged as a proven, environmentally promising and commercially competitive option which could make a significant contribution to the UAE’s economy and future energy security,” he added. Sheikh Abdullah’s comments came at the International Conference on Access to Civil Nuclear Energy in Paris in an address

The UAE’s power demand is set to increase.

that was read on his behalf by Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. He hailed the deal struck in December 2009 with a Korean consortium to build four nuclear power reactors in the UAE, with the first scheduled to be operational in 2017. “International cooperation in the development of peaceful nuclear energy is a key element. It is a key to facilitate transfer of technology and an essential tool to ensure that such expansion in the use of nuclear energy is pursued in a responsible manner,” Sheikh Abdullah concluded.

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 7

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WEB HIGHLIGHTS

ONLINE ANALYSIS

14 ﬁrms in running to advise on DEWA deal DEWA CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer announces he is pleased with the response to tender for ﬁrst private contract, and the utility says it will award the deal in June this year.

Most popular headlines EDITOR’S PICK

Video: Power plant substation explodes Utilities-me.com presents footage of the Ives Dairy Substation in Miami Florida going up in a ball of ﬂames and electrical explosions after a ﬁre at the facility.

BREAKING NEWS AND VIEWS FIRST

1. SNC Lavalin submits lowest bid for $4bn plant. 2. Saudi desal plant nears completion 3. US Ambassador wants USA-UAE nuclear power deals 4. Abu Dhabi eyes smart grids to ease demand 5. Qatar aiming to conserve power and water 6. Aggreko wins African power award 7. MENA region could be renewables leader 8. MWH Global announces board shake up 9. 14 ﬁrms in running for DEWA private deal 10. Saudi needs to invest more in power, water SPOT POLL

US Ambassador wants UAE-US nuclear power deals

How have you found industry events so far this year?

US Ambassador predicts more US involvement in UAE nuclear plans in the future after Koreans sign ﬁrst wave of deals.

Extremely useful 45%

Abu Dhabi eyes smart meters to ease demand peak

Fairly useful

23%

Average

18%

Useless

14%

Up to 500 villas in Abu Dhabi are to be ﬁtted with smart meters in pilot project to be introduced soon.

MENA region could become gobal renewables leader Report states Middle East could become world leader in renewables and identiﬁes wind and solar as top possiblities. www.utilities-me.com

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Utilities Middle East 9

NEWS ANALYSIS

A region’s renewed hope Report states the Middle East region could become world leader in renewable energy technology if correct steps are taken

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April 2010

Solar power could be deployed widely throughout the Middle East region.

Walid Fayad, who is also a principal at Booz & Company. The report also states that renewable in the region will help mitigate the global climate change challenge through minimising the impact of certain countries in the region which rank among the highest greenhouse gas emitters in the world on a per capita basis. Other environmental problems in the region could be addressed through renewable energies according to the report, such as rising pollution levels and resultant reductions in quality of life. Renewables can generate value in their own right, the report states, which would result in the freeing of oil and gas for more proﬁtable uses rather than purely energy, such as those in the petrochemicals sector. “If renewable energy sources could replace the oil or gas currently used for power generation, the surpluses created could become available for more proﬁtable downstream applications,” notes Tarek El Sayed, principal, Booz & Company.

The ﬁnal two reasons which are listed in the report are that renewables enhances export value of the region’s traditional energy assets and the potential for the renewable energy industry to drive economic diversiﬁcation and create jobs. The report also evaluates the various types of renewable power and their suitability for this region. Booz & Company concludes that wind and solar offer the greatest potential to the Middle East. Onshore wind power is already cost competitive with fossil fueled generation,

although it has major problems with intermittency. However, the report states that this can be partially mitigated by the dispersal of wind turbines over a large geographic area rather than concentrating them in small areas. “Additionally, planners can capture excess wind-sup¬plied energy by linking wind turbines to hydroelectric plants, which can be used to offset intermittency and absorb wind power surpluses,” comments El-Husseini. Within the solar sector, there are two major forms of power. One is concentrating solar power (CSP) which uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate solar energy within plants that are utility-scale generators. The other form of solar power is photovoltaic (PV) solar, which directly converts sunlight using semiconductors and is often used on a smaller scale. “Both solar technologies could be deployed widely throughout the region", says Fayad. "The Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi recently commissioned the ﬁrst large-scale PV installation in the MENA region," Fayad adds.

Getty Images.

The Middle East and North Africa region has the potential to become one of the world’s largest producers of renewable energy, according to a report by Booz & Company. The firm has stated that renewable energy industry developments combined with the region’s potential in wind and solar power could give a significant advantage to companies in the region looking to capitalise on them. “Renewables in much of the MENA region are underfunded or not funded at all, in part due to the region’s abundant supplies of fossil fuels, says Ibrahim El-Husseini, a partner at Booz & Company. However the firm states that there are seven reasons why the region could change this and become a leader in renewable energy. The first of these reasons is the advantageous geography and climate. “The MENA region has the world’s greatest potential for solar power generation, offering 45% of the world’s total energy potential from all renewable sources. If the region achieved this potential, it could generate more than three times the world’s total current power demand. The region also has some potential for large-scale wind farms,” the report states. Another potential driver of renewable energies in the region is the fact that the current energy supply may not be sufficient to meet the world's future energy demand. “With demand forecasted to grow at more than 7% per year for the next decade, countries in the MENA region will need to build 80 to 90 gigawatts of new capacity by 2017 to meet demand,” explains

Wind power in the Middle East has also been touted as an area with potential for growth.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

RENEWABLE RESOURCES How to develop renewable power in the Middle East, according to Booz & Company. 1. Develop a renewable energy strategy. A renewable energy strategy will require a number of considerations. Governments must assess their renewable resources and technical capabilities. They should consider the economic beneﬁts of creating a manufacturing sector capable of supplying renewable energy projects versus importing the parts for such projects. Next, they will need to determine the scope of their ambitions, for example, whether they want a strong renewables sector supported by research institutions, education ini-

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tiatives, and other efforts, or just act as a technology user. 2. Put in place the appropriate institutional setting for renewable energy. In most MENA countries, there is no clear ownership at the government level of issues related to renewable energy. “Governments must appoint and empower an entity to lead the development of policies and regulations and follow up on their implementation,” notes El Sayed. 3. Develop a favourable policy and regulator y framework to promote the development and use of renewable energy. In most MENA countries, the regulatory environment is such that national utility companies deﬁne power generation requirements,

which they must meet at the lowest possible cost. Accordingly, their delivery models usually involve private developers under independent water and power producer (IWPP) schemes. This procurement model is geared toward large-scale, conventional power stations which take on more complex contracts. 4. Enable technical grid integration. Because power production from wind and solar sources is intermittent, these sources must be combined with conventional power generation methods. "This presents a technical challenge but large shares of renewable power generation have been successfully integrated into the grid in other parts of the world,” comments Fayad.

5. Develop R&D capabilities and a deep talent pool. The renewable energy industry needs a skilled workforce of technicians, designers, and engineers. In addition, the renewable energy sector depends heavily on R&D for advancements in materials, technology, and implementation. Pioneers in the renewable energy sector are often situated in close proximity to world-class research institutions providing a knowledge base. “The MENA region currently lacks such research institutions, but it is addressing this situation," says El Sayed. "For example, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a new university focused on renewable energy technologies, welcomed its ﬁrst class of students in September 2009,” El Sayed concludes.

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Utilities Middle East 11

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SCADA SYSTEMS

Close control The role of SCADA systems is becoming more widely recognised. Utilities Middle East reports on the technology’s importance in ensuring an efﬁcient grid

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s real time monitoring and control of utility networks generates increasing quantities of data, the ability to process it efﬁciently to ensure optimum performance has become paramount. Many industrial and infrastructure-scale enterprises depend on equipment located at multiple sites dispersed over a large geographical area, which produces vast quantities of information. Of these, a signiﬁcant proportion of large infrastructure and industrial-scale ventures use supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. According to Newton Evans, the power utility industry uses SCADA at more than 50% of their installations. Closer to home, a cursory glance at the DEWA tender board will reveal a number of tenders have recently

been issued for upgrades to existing SCADA systems for substations within the emirate. According to the ARC Advisory Group, it estimates that global shipments of SCADA for the electrical power industry touched $1.3 billion in 2008 and could expand to $2 billion by 2010. For Oil & Gas, the ﬁgure could reach $1.3 billion by 2012. In 2009, ABB won an order worth $63 million from the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Saudi Arabia’s national power transmission utility, to upgrade 15 substations in the Kingdom. The substations are spread over an area of approximately 1,000 kilometres and cover a range of voltage levels from 13.8 kV to 230 kV. The project is scheduled for completion in 2011. April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 13

SCADA SYSTEMS

ABB will provide design, engineering, supply, installation, testing and commissioning. SCADA systems will also be supplied to enable better power monitoring and control. Clearly the role of SCADA systems, and the benefits inherent in such technology are becoming known to a wider market. At a basic level SCADA enables utility automation systems, such as power grid control, water (both desalination and network) and wastewater management to deal with more data in a timely manner, provide secure communication and reduce time-to-market. Something that conventional infrastructure technologies fall short in addressing due to a lack of flexibility and limited support for dealing with large volumes of data and configuration. SCADA systems also help achieve load balancing and improvement in voltage profiles, facilitate proper handling of loads, enhancing the supply of quality power, aid the identification of faults, early restoration of power, efficient planning and also the design of networks. “When implemented correctly the SCADA technology offers great advantages,” says Lalit Zavar, business development manager, remote automation solutions at Emerson. SCADA is normally used for monitoring field assets which are remote to the plant and to provide this process data at various levels into the Management Information Systems. SCADA can be considered as the binding glue, which puts together various components of the process controls systems together. While its advantages are wellknow, Zavar believes there is still a lack of understanding of the technology, which holds back SCADA from being used more extensively. And just as importantly, improving technology is blurring the bound-

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April 2010

SCADA systems can improve grid efﬁciency.

aries between these clearly differing systems. “Yes there is a distinct lack of awareness of SCADA. Several end users confuse between the requirements of DCS and SCADA; programmable logic controllers

(PLC) and remote terminal units (RTUs). With the advancement in chip and communication technology many of the differences are winding down and there is a possibility of using some of the products as both, however, care should

“There is a distinct lack of awareness of SCADA”

be taken to deﬁne the requirements to ensure that the functional requirements are met.” In SCADA systems, RTUs and PLCs perform most on-site control. The RTU or PLC acquires the site data, which includes metre readings, pressure, voltage or other equipment status, then performs local control and transfers the data to the central SCADA system. When comparing a solution for challenging SCADA environments, RTU and PLC-based systems aren’t equal. These concerns are not held by a minority. Speaking at an Energy

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SCADA SYSTEMS

“The main challenge we are facing is the availability of domain speciﬁc skilled manpower”

Telecommunications & Industrial Association (ENTELEC) seminar, Mike Walden, business development manager at Control Systems International – an automation company specialising in upgrading existing SCADA systems - says ﬁrms that are looking to replace SCADA systems should be more considered: “As you know, replacing a SCADA system is a big deal… just like everything else about maintaining a process, replacing a SCADA systems can have a signiﬁcant impact in any number of areas, especially on operations. The irony is that despite the importance of a

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SCADA replacement project, most companies don’t have all that much experience doing it. Many companies have specific procedures for replacing a SCADA system. Those procedures worked the last time they acquired a SCADA system. But that was a long time ago. Many companies find that the technology has changed since then, the vendors have changed, and the old procurement process is no longer as efficient as it might be.” A number of technology-providers allude to a basic misunderstanding of SCADA. In a white paper, Motorola states that with a

wide range of RTU and PLC currently on the market, SCADA system engineers and decision makers face several challenges, most notably which units provide the best functionality, expandability and cost effectiveness for any given SCADA application. Especially as RTUs and PLCs overlap application niches, there can be industry confusion. This confusion is not wholly problematic. According to Zavar it is the natural evolution of comparable technologies. As greater advances are made, their deﬁned remit naturally overlaps with other products. In essence this will lead to a far more homogenous brand of technology. “As is the case with most of the technologically driven industries, we are seeing an amalgamation of products,” he says. “The differences between DCS, SCADA, RTUs, PLC, and similar technologies will fade away as higher capacity memory and communication infrastructure become available. What we will be using in

FEWA’S SCADA DEAL Al Mostajed technologies and Open Systems International together have been awarded a contract for the SCADA systems in the Northern Emirates of the UAE. The two ﬁrms will provide a uniﬁed control system for management of the transmission grid. For more please see page 6.

the future is not, therefore, ‘competing technologies’ but ‘integrated technologies.’” This technology advance, said Zayar has significant benefits for the utility sector. “The advancements in device technology and the data communications over various media has now put within our reach the possibility to use and explore our natural resources like oil, gas and water safely and optimally. Technologies like wireless and i-Field or digital fields have a great potential.” Potential yes, but typically new technology brings new obstacles. According to Premchand Kurup, CEO of Paramount a local IT security firm, SCADA’s reliance on data delivered remotely means it is an enhanced security risk. “Across the world in recent times, as a result of migration of control networks from obscure to IP based, vulnerabilities in these networks are being exploited increasingly by hackers, terrorists and individuals bent on disruption and destruction. These systems face threats from computer virus proliferation as well as human error. Many processes control/SCADA issues have impacted critical infrastructures costing millions of dollars, loss of credibility with company stakeholders and risks to the public’s safety.” Such advancement can be a double-edged sword, therefore. And Zayar issues a further warning; such rapid improvement in technology will nullify the long-term value of such products. “The main

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 15

SCADA SYSTEMS

“The global crisis has deﬁnitely impacted the industry as a whole”

challenge we are facing is the availability of domain speciﬁc skilled manpower. From materials view point, technological advances is a boon but on the other side the pace of technology is so high that it leads to a shortened life cycle of the current products making spares and support a big challenge to the sector.” Advocating new systems is all very well. However, the global economic crisis has wreaked havoc on the emirate, with foreign investment and lines of capital drying up completely leading to stalled projects or cancelled entirely. Signiﬁcant infrastructure projects, which

demand huge tracts of project finance in particular has suffered. Consequently doubts have been raised over the efficacy of installing a new SCADA system. This argument is invalid, according to Zayar who believes that, despite the undeniable impact of a slowdown in projects, SCADA’s intrinsic role is not questioned, Moreover, with a need to strive for greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness, the benefits afforded by SCADA are even more relevant. “The global crisis has definitely impacted the industry as a whole. Only projects which are a ‘must have’ are going to be cleared for

the drawing board. Due to its application, SCADA requirements fall in this category normally and hence the SCADA market has not been impacted to a great extent. In addition, with the crisis it has become more important that operators explore and maintain their ﬁelds optimally, which requires a more in-depth knowledge of how wellheads are producing, which is one of the main functionalities delivered by the SCADA system.” Looking forward it is going to be this integration, Zayar predicts between various vendors that will represent the ongoing challenge for the wider implementation of SCADA technology. Access to qualiﬁed and experienced resources, access to a single vendor who can deliver integrated SCADA technology but who can also coordinate between the SCADA vendor and the ‘communications infrastructure vendor’ will be key to those users in the region. The future does not necessarily

need to be viewed with trepidation according to those in the industry. There are a number of evolving aspects of SCADA that the industry is watching. “SCADA can be broken down into three parts – field, communications and the top layer,’ said Zayar. There are distinct emerging technologies in each layer of the SCADA systems. From the field side this could be the foundation fieldbus or Wireless HART; from the communications side the use of standard ethernet as the connecting backbone and WiMax; at the IT (top) layer the use of thin client versus thick client, the use of open industry standard protocols like DNP3.0 (device layer) and OPC-UA (Enterprise layer). “Some of the Middle East users are experts of SCADA technology where as others are still catching up thus providing a challenging opportunity for the SCADA vendors in the region,” Zayar concludes.

SCADA systems can be broken down into three parts.

16 Utilities Middle East

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April 2010

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INTERVIEW

Self efﬁcient Eaton COO Thomas Gross talks to Utilities Middle East about the company’s new structure, its regional approach and energy efﬁciency

hen a senior executive enters the office, everyone sits up and pays attention. So when Thomas Gross, the chief operating officer and vice chairman of Eaton’s electrical division is on his way to the Middle East, it’s no surprise the atmosphere in the firm’s Dubai office is one of anticipation. Last year the company went through a drastic structural rethink, with the firm now organised on a regional basis rather than a product focused one. But regionalised or not, when a top boss from the US visits, the local staff are always keen to impress. As Gross enters the office, together with a supporting entourage, it’s clear any staff anxieties are misplaced. Appearing laid back, warm and genuinely excited to be visiting Dubai, it quickly becomes apparent that Gross is a man with a passion for his job. “The thing that unifies Eaton is that almost the entire company, nearly 100%, is involved in power of some type. So there is electrical power, fluid power with the hydraulics and aerospace and there is the mechanical power so we are typically involved in engines and valve trains and things that generate power,” enthuses Gross. “My responsibility is to run the electrical side of the business,” he continues, “The electrical sector is broken into three pieces which are completely regional and so we have an Americas business, an

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April 2010

Asia Pacific business and we have a Europe, Middle East and Africa business. So we have a pretty simple organisation structure. We changed from having a technology organisation where we were organised by various product attributes and we changed in 2009 to a complete regional structure.” The new structure has given the company many benefits, chief of which is the self sufficiency enjoyed by each regional hub in the various parts of the globe. The changes are also designed to make the firm quicker and more responsive to a client’s needs. Gross admits the change was a big task, but believes the hard work is now completed: “We have had a big upheaval as a result of that, but it has gone very well so we are now essentially finished with all those organisational changes in the firm,” he states. The Middle East represents an important part of the Eaton business, Gross says. “World figures for the electrical sector stood at $6bn with$3.5bn inside the Americas and $2.bn outside. And the Europe, Middle East and Africa region is bigger than the Asia Pacific region, but that’s all we can tell you. The Middle East has been a good growth region for us and we are expanding our capabilities and that expansion is coming through

Thomas Gross, COO, Eaton electrical division.

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INTERVIEW

normal product development but also through acquisitions.” “The Middle East has become a very nice region for us, we think we have good growth prospects going forward and I would say it is important, but today I would still say it is too small and we want it to become bigger,” he adds. In mentioning acquisitions it appears Gross is giving us a teaser of another topic he is proud of. Eaton in recent times has been prolific in the number of acquisitions it has secured. In 2008 the firm acquired a portion of Schneider’s MGE business, the Taiwanese UPS firm Phoenix Technologies and the German and Austrian firm Moeller. “And all three of those are what made electrical the size it is and doubled the revenue of the business,” exclaims Gross. “Bear in mind most of those businesses had a sizeable interest in the Middle East already so it added to what we had here,” he adds. At this point Frank Campbell, president of the electrical sector in Europe, Middle East and Africa, adds some more regional perspective. Campbell is based in Switzerland and is visiting the Dubai office at the same time as Gross – as if the secretary hastily arranging floral decorations didn’t have enough to worry about with one boss. “In 2009, we also made an acquisition of sorts, we entered into a joint venture here in Abu Dhabi with a company called SEG Middle East, we are the joint venture partner there. This company is primarily involved in low voltage generator switchgear, obviously it is a platform from which we want to grow substantially into the low voltage and even the medium voltage switchgear here in the Gulf,” says Campbell. “We have a manufacturing facility here and it is Eaton managed and will be called Eaton Middle East switchgear manufacturing company so that was another ven-

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April 2010

Energy efﬁciency is a hot topic in the Middle East.

ture in 2009. It gave us a start from a manufacturing perspective in the region. Something we can look to grow on,” he adds. With the large number of acquisitions in recent years, Eaton has become experienced in the process. “It’s never easy, the best way to think about it is that we are pretty diligent about standardis-

ing processes within Eaton once we have declared them a standard. Our acquisition integration framework is a pretty complete set of steps that we follow on each acquisition,” comments Gross. “I think each one has some uniqueness around the culture but we have acquired more than 50 companies in the last 10 years sow

“If you look around today and see how much energy is being wasted, our message would be let’s get going on that now” Eaton COO, Thomas Gross.

e are pretty good at going through the steps in a logical way,” he continues, “With these three though, it was particularly easy because of the culture fit. All three were very scientific and technical companies, very proud of their products and very good at developing their products. Eaton is also a very technical company so we tend to have a lot of people with engineering degrees. We don’t have so many business degree people but a lot of engineering people. “ When talking business in recent times, it seems no conversation is complete without mentioning the lingering, menacing elephant in the room, which finally appears to have one foot out of the window: the economic crisis. “2009 was a

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INTERVIEW

“What we do is demanded in a lot of sectors and a lot of places. We ﬁnd ourselves in an interesting spot” Thomas Gross, COO, Eaton electrical

programmes all in place. We had to reduce our expenses in some ways but in general we were able to get through this economic crisis quite well,” he adds. Eaton has had a very diversified past, but took the decision to concentrate power and according to Gross, has never looked back. “That was a really good idea. We find ourselves today in the middle of some very contemporary issues like energy efficiency, power management, smart grids, these are very terrific markets and I think the way Eaton transformed itself was

very thoughtful and it turned out to be a good thing to do,” reveals Gross with pride. “What we do is demanded in a lot of sectors and a lot of places. The thought of power management is very pervasive across the globe. So we find ourselves in a very interesting spot. We are in the middle of some very interesting discussions,” Gross adds. When he talks about energy efficiency, Gross appears most animated, and it is obvious this topic is one of great importance to him. And while he champions the smart grid concept, he also doesn’t make it the be-all and end –all of efficiency ideas.

Gross explains the reasons behind the company reshufﬂe.

very challenging year economically and most of our markets decreased and this wass the first year in a long time where the world had a negative GDP. Ourr business was affected by that and nd we are still in the midst of thatt to some degree. So the challenge e we face is understanding the ratee of recovery,” explains Gross. “However during this is period I think the company performed erformed extremely well, we had a loss for the first time in many y decades within Eaton in the first first quarter of 2008, then immediately diately in the second quarter we turned urned to profitability and improved ed every quarter since then. I think hink we responded quite well, we kept our research and development lopment

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April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 21

INTERVIEW

A mix of energy resources are being touted in this region.

EATON QUICK FACTS • 2009 sales of $11.9 billion • Operates in power management • Has approximately 70,000 employees • Sell products in more than 150 countries • Founded in 1911

“From my perspective I think there is so much we can do right now to save energy and quite often we associate energy conservation with longer term things like the smart grid. I think it will be enormously helpful to have a smart grid and distributed power generation. But if you look around today and see how much energy is being wasted, our message would be let’s get going on that now, because there are tremendous savings that can be easily ﬁnancially justiﬁed without government incentives or incentives from the utilities,” “I was at a North American Electrical Manufacturing Association event last week and we were sitting around talking about the smart grid and how we can accel-

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April 2010

erate the smart gird – the estimate in the US is that it will cost $260bn to develop a smart grid,” he continued, “As we are sitting around talking about it there is a projector just showing an empty slide, 50 lights on the room, it was hotter than it needed to be, these are simple things – lighting controls and HVAC.” One of the new services on offer from the company is an energy audit, which sees experts go into a building and assess how energy costs can be saved. “They are broad suggestions of how to dramatically cut energy costs. Of course we are available to do these projects as well. The key point is that people need help with this, it’s not easy to do,” reveals Gross.

With energy efﬁciency Eaton clearly has a vision and the people in charge to take things in the right direction. Gross’ assessment that while the bigger, long term strategies are important, there should still be a focus on smaller initiatives which can be done today, is one which has particular relevance in the Middle East. Sometimes in this region it can be said that industries have found themselves staring off into the distance at a bigger picture, and missing the vital points in the foreground.

As Gross is ushered onto a meeting with Dubai’s electricity authority DEWA, he states his ambitions for the next 12 months. “My hope is that we are absolutely viewed as local manufacturers and a local company and there would be no difference if you were in Europe, Middle East, or Asia. That is our objective and we have been looking to achieve that for a long time. I think we are starting to achieve that status. That is or vision - to become a truly global electrical company,” he concludes.

“Our acquisition integration framework is a pretty complete set of steps that we follow on each acquisition” Thomas Gross, COO, Eaton electrical division.

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DESALINATION TRENDS

Big change in the membrane Desalination trends are all revolving around membrane technology. Utilities Middle East ﬁnds out how this is affecting the sector

esalination is vital to the Middle East. This may be an obvious statement, but it doesn’t take away any of its importance. In this region water is scarce and with the population rising, it is fair to say that without desalination there would be a big water crisis. The desalination sector is one with a heavy emphasis on the technology it uses. The better companies follow and keep up with these technological trends in a market which is still relatively young. One of the main trends currently being seen in this region and the world is the use of membranes rather than thermal techniques. “What we see in the technology is there is a drive towards membrane desalination at the moment, essentially because of the lower costs associated with membrane technology,” Bassam Halabi, group business development director at Metito says. Other ﬁrms involved in desalination agree that there is a move towards reverse osmosis and membrane technology. “We see reverse osmosis technology continue to gain on thermal desalination processes,” conﬁrms Doug Eisberg, product director at Energy Recovery. “Now there is the introduction of the 16inch membrane which can lower the cost of desalination

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April 2010

Tawﬁq Abu Soud, Drake & Scull IW&P.

further with improvements in the energy recovery systems. So these things are pushing the desalination industry towards membrane technology rather than thermal. I’m not biased towards membrane technology because Metito does that, but that is what I see in the market,” adds Halabi. He goes on to say that there are not many plants currently being built which are using thermal technology, although there are some in the UAE and Saudi Arabia which were designed a long time ago and are on a larger scale than most desalination plants. As a consequence of this trend, a growing number of companies have looked to capitalise on the popularity of membrane technology and reverse osmosis plants. “This trend has resulted in strong

growth for the sea water and brackish desalination industries,” explains Eisberg. “The market as a whole is going towards this membrane technology, they are not just being used in desalination but also in waste water recovery but membranes are emerging as a front runner in desalination,” adds Halabi. Drake and Scull International, a new entry into the desalination market, sees a similar theme. “The primary objective of the desalination market is to provide clean water when and where needed, and to the local standards required. The desalination industry was historically dominated by thermal technologies. However, reverse osmosis has more recently emerged as a more popular source for desalinating water, given its inherently lower cost of investment, lower running cost and lower space requirements,”

says Tawﬁq Abu Soud, executive director, Drake and Scull Water and Power. “Research and development continues in parallel to innovative construction methods, and together will contribute to a growing sector that matches the trends and meets the demands of the desalination industry markets,” he adds. The market has faced similar to challenges to that of any other. A poor economy has resulted in proj-

Clean drinking water is the ultimate aim of desalination.

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DESALINATION TRENDS

Doug Eisberg of Energy Recovery.

ect delays and tougher conditions for ﬁnancing. “The current economic climate has affected most, if not all industry sectors, and water is no exception. It was inevitable that the demand for desalination plants speciﬁcally, and water and wastewater treatment plants generally would also fall,” comments Abu Soud. “The current economic climate also means a fall in capital costs, and coupled with an independently ever-growing demand for clean water, it is an opportune moment

“We see reverse osmosis technology continue to gain on thermal desalination processes” Doug Eisberg, product director at Energy Recovery

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to optimise and enhance selectivity of technologies and contractors assigned with ensuring that the current demand are always met,” he adds. “As everyone knows, because of the global crisis our main challenge is ﬁnancing. Projects are being a little bit delayed. We have hopes for movement and we know that the projects will be moving and some of them are about to move,” explains Halabi. “Project ﬁnancing remains a serious hurdle for the industry which can cause delays in products. This is turn means that water doesn’t reach those in need as soon as it should,” says Eisberg. Other considerations that are affecting the industry include the environmental question of exactly how much the process of desalination is harming marine life. “People

have raised the issue of environmental worries but there are all sorts of studies that are being done now to see what exactly is the impact of for example discharging brine from desalination plants into the seas oceans and how that affects the marine environment,” says Halabi. “Frankly the way we see this is that the chemicals used in desalination are FDA approved and they do not impact the environmental or marine life, perhaps the salinity might have a little bit of an effect but that is currently under study and the solution is always to have a better diffusion of the salts whenever they discharge into the sea.” “Thermal plants have the disadvantage of higher temperatures and this may well have an effect on the environment,” Halabi concludes.

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 25

COUNTRY PROFILE

Pyramid power Egypt is moving forwards with several infrastructure projects. Utilities Middle East reports on the country’s progress

Egypt’s installed power capacity stood at 17,000MW as of 2005 of which 84% is based on natural gas and the remainder split between HEP and thermal power.

gypt’s infrastructure has undergone significant improvement over recent years. Buoyed by significant foreign aid and a number of fiscal stimulus packages, the country is driving ahead with a range of infrastructure projects to modernise its road, rail, power and water networks. Demand for energy has risen as a result of demographic and economic growth. Its reliance on hydro-electric power (HEP), which used to provide 25% of the country’s electricity was throw into exposure during the water crisis in 1988, that followed eight

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years of drought in the catchment areas of the River Nile. The government embarked on a programme to construct power stations that would depend mainly on locally-produced natural gas. Egypt’s ﬁrst build-own-operatetransfer power plant at Sidi Kreir began operation in 2002, followed by two 680-mw BOOT plants at Ain Sukna and East Port Said. In 2005 the country’s installed capacity stood at 17,000 mw, of which 84% is based on natural gas and the remaining split between HEP and thermal power. Away from traditional methods of power generation, in 1997

an Argentinian-built $100 million, 22MW research nuclear reactor became operational, replacing the 2 mw facility constructed by the Soviet Union in 1961. Egypt also generates approximately 150MW of wind power through its site at Zafraana on the Gulf of Suez. In June 2009, Australia-based engineering consultants Worley Parsons announced contracts to oversee projects towards Egypt’s ﬁrst nuclear power plant. In December 2008, Egypt’s Energy and Electricity Ministry announced that following an international tender, it had decided to award a $180 million contract

to Bechtel to choose the reactor technology, choose the site for the plant, organise training and provide technical services over some ten years. However, the government has now transferred this contract to Worley Parsons. Worley Parsons expects the contract to be worth $160 million over eight years. The initial phase of the contract involves site and technology selection studies and work relating to the plant’s design, construction management, commissioning and start-up. In 2006, Egypt announced plans to build a 1000 MWe reactor for electricity generation and water

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Utilities Middle East 27

COUNTRY PROFILE

desalination at El-Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast by 2015, in a project valued at between $1.5 - $2 billion, which would be open to foreign participation. Such progressive steps do not come cheap. Fortunately, Egypt has benefited from significant international assistance in modernising and developing its infrastructure. In January 2009, the World Bank’s board of executive directors approved a loan of $600 million to support the Ain Sokhna Power project. “Egypt has proved to be resilient during the economic crisis and the expansion of infrastructure and various utilities continued to grow,” said Bill Brubaker, senior vice president, North Africa of Hill International. “The government financed many projects in water and wastewater, oil and gas, and energy. It also helped to get financial loans from major banks and encouraged the investment atmosphere for the private sector. In 2009 the government implemented a $2.7bn for infrastructure projects and export subsidies and is considering up to $3.3bn in 2010 to alleviate the economic pressures.” The scheme will support the government’s expansion

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April 2010

plan to meet the energy demand and ensure access to reliable and affordable electricity services – prerequisites for sustained economic growth and achieving the country’s social development agenda. The Ain Sokhna Power Project aims to ensure continuous electricity supply to meet the demand in a sustainable manner through investment in a new generation and to improve the sector’s ﬁnancial sustainability by providing technical assistance to Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) to support sector revenue improvements. The project will ﬁnance a 1,300MW supercritical steam turbine power plant comprising two 650MW steam turbine generators. The plant will fall under the management of the East Delta Production Company (EDPC), one of EEHC’s subsidiaries. “We are particularly pleased to have such a solid partnership with the government of Egypt; this project builds on the reforms that the government is currently

Muhammed Mubarak, President of Egypt has tough decision ahead.

implementing across the energy sector,” said Emmanuel Mbi, country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti. “The World Bank’s support to the energy sector in Egypt is in line with the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy which emphasises the provision of public goods through modernised infrastructure services to achieve sustainable growth.” Egypt’s electrical energy consumption and peak demand has been growing rapidly over the last decade at rates of 8.6% and 8.1 % . Anna Bjerde, World Bank Task Team Leader added the projects technological advances bring with it greater efficiency. “The project will be the first power plant in Egypt based on the supercritical technology, which will increase the overall efficiency of the power plant and has a faster responsiveness to the load and reduces emission,” she said. In March of the same year the World Bank also approved a $270 million loan to support the Egypt National Railways Restructuring Project (ENRRP). The first component of which will finance the modernisation of signalling along the Arab el-Rami to Alexandria line and a computerised Central Traffic Control system (CTC).The second component will finance priority track-renewal works for 200 km of track along the Cair-Aswan line and the Benha-Port Said line. This will significantly decrease the risk of derailments and track maintenance costs while increasing train speed. Alternative technologies represent a key policy of its energy production. The country aims to generate one fi fth of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 including wind power. To reach this goal, it is tapping into the World Bank Clean Technology Fund. Aside from the World Bank, Egypt has also been the recipient of substantial assistance from the United States, which since

1975 has contributed $5.6bn to improve Egypt’s water and wastewater, electric power and telecommunications services through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID’s infrastructure programme assisted the Egyptian government to construct facilities to expand utility services and coverage, helps the utilities operate more efficiently, supports legal and regulatory reform and promotes private sector participation in the financing and management of Egypt’s infrastructure services. The programme concluded in 2006 but in that time USAID claim that approximately 22 million people will have benefited from improved water and wastewater systems in Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan, Luxor, South Sinai, Daqahliya, Beni Suef, Fayoum and Minya governorates. More than 20 million people will have benefited from newly constructed or modernised electric power plants www.utilities-me.com

COUNTRY PROFILE

Egypt’s water issues are concentrated on the Nile.

that have increased Egypt’s electric power capacity by 35 per cent. A further 8 million have beneﬁted from an expanded telecommunications network and improved telephone service. Such aid is necessary in a country, which has struggled during the ongoing global economic crisis. A new report by Business Monitor International reveals the country’s construction sector has been hit hard, with industry growth of just 1.73 per cent in 2009, compared to 10.32 per cent in 2008. Activity is expected to slow even further in 2010 before a small increase in 2011. In October 2009, Egypt announced that it was looking to increase private investment in the country by 75 per cent by 2012/2013 to $36.6bn. This plan will include promoting 52 infrastructure projects to investors in the Middle East, Europe and the US. Before the ﬁnancial crisis, Egypt’s foreign investment was www.utilities-me.com

“Water needs more planning and there is a need to better enhance the water and sewage infrastructure ” Bill Brubaker, Hill International.

climbing steadily, and had reached $24.4bn in 2007/2008 before falling to $20.83bn in 2008/2009. The projects being promoted include port development, renewable energy and road building. In response to these declining figures, the Egyptian government announced plans for a third stimulus package in January valued at 11.2bn Egyptian pounds ($2bn). This package has been increased from the 10bn Egyptian pounds unveiled in October. It is the third adopted by the government since the financial crisis broke out. The first two packages – announced in October 2008 and

June 2009 – were for 15bn and 8bn pounds respectively and were introduced to mitigate the impact of falling revenues from the Suez Canal, a decline in tourism and reduced foreign investment. Away from energy production, Egypt is in the process of developing its ﬁrst wastewater publicprivate partnership (PPP), the new Cairo plant. A consortium of Egypt’s Orascom Construction and Spain’s Aqualia was awarded the contract to develop the plant in May 2009. It is now in talks with banks to ﬁnance the $470 million project. The plant will be developed on a

build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with a capacity of 250,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d) of wastewater. At a later stage this is set to be expanded to 1.25 million cm/d. In the wider context, the government has implemented an overarching water-plan says Brubaker, with the government highly concerned with increasing access to water supply and sanitation: “Power is undergoing major development in Egypt which is generally adequate and covers most of the populated areas. On the other hand, water needs more planning and to better enhance the water and sewage infrastructure. “The implementation of the National Water Resources Plan, which should be completed in 2017 is expected to cost $26.56bn,” he says. “In addition, a vigorous plan by the Ministry of Petroleum is announced to invest $6bn of oil and gas exploration and ﬁelds development in 2010. The ministry also unveiled a plan to drill 520 exploratory oil and gas wells involving investments of $2bn in 2010. Furthermore, the 20-year national master plan for petrochemical industry is determined to be $20bn.” Besides implementing a modern and stable country-wide infrastructure network, in the longterm the key challenge for Egypt said Brubaker will be ensuring such technological advances does not take its toil on the country itself, with a move away from traditional energy-production key. “Environment is the most important challenge. Securing energy activities in order to preserve the ecosystem is a fundamental goal for the industry. This means that looking at renewable energy is extremeley signiﬁcant for the country of Egypt. “Supply of safe and clean water to all parts of Egypt is also a vital goal to improve the country water infrastructure,” he concludes. April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 29

Mezzanine Floor Office No. 511, Business Avenue Building, Sheikh Rashid Road P.O. Box: 90395, Dubai - United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 2955905, Fax: +971 4 2955135 Email: uae@elsewedy.com Website: www.elsewedy.com

CABLE FOCUS

Stable cable? Utilities Middle East presents the views of the cabling industry from three different company perspectives

here are many issues concerning the cabling industry currently, but three in particular stand out from the rest. Cabling is a product which is used in the kind of situation where it simply can’t afford to fail. With this in mind, standards of cables must be high, and a cable must either last for a long time or alternatively be maintained regularly. Another issue which is affecting the sector is the new technology

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which is breaking through. Companies are investing billions of dollars into how to make cables as efﬁcient as possible. A large amount of power can be lost in transmission and a lot of this is due to cables. A number of new products are now hitting the sector, although one has yet to really take a grasp. A third issue comes from the economic situation and how the global crisis has taken its toll on the industry. Like any other, it has been affected by project delays

and funding issues. But power is a supposedly recession proof sector and as it’s always needed, can only slow down a certain extent. Utilities Middle East talks to three companies on the three main issues affecting the cabling sector. The ﬁrms range from one trying to break into the sector, to one supplying materials for high standard cabling, right through to an established company and its performance through the tough year which was 2009.

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 31

CABLE FOCUS

BREAKING THROUGH Eric Sohne, president and CEO of Global Supply Chain Solutions is attempting to get his cabling product established in the Middle East regional market. Could you explain your product? The CTC cable provides lower maintenance, better conductivity of the electricity that is going down it; it provides less heating so you get less line losses. You pay for what you get. The installation costs are lower because you don’t need as many towers because it is lighter. In the end it will last much longer and provide you with much better capabilities in terms of maintenance costs. It’s been around a while, it has been around for nearly 15 years and it is a small ﬁrm so I’m on board to push things forward globally. The cabling that is here has been for a long time, so it’s coming up to the time when it needs to be replaced, so replacement costs will be lower with this product.

What advantages does it bring? It is lower on maintenance because of the technology of the design itself. The thing is that it is much lighter so the stresses on the cable are much lower. How have you gone about breaking into the Middle East market? I have a partner in the form of Al Mostajed Technologies and we are in this together. In any local area you need to have a partner who knows the lay of the land. There has been interest locally in the product. What are the challenges you are facing? In the US if you did $100m in sales last year or two years ago, now you are doing 15% less if you are lucky and it is difﬁcult times. We believe we are starting to see a turnaround though. I would say it is true, particularly in this product in cabling, its an older market in the Middle East in general so it is time for upgrades we think. Another question the industry is facing is why would you want to add power capability if you can’t transfer it across to other areas? If the line losses are high there is little point. So what you want to do is not only improve the power with technology but also the technology of the infrastructure and transmission at the same time.

Eric Sohne president and CEO of Global Supply Chain Solutions.

32 2 Utilities Uttillit Ut Uti liiitties ess Mi M Middl Middle iddle ddl ddl dd d eE eE East ast st

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Ap il 20 Apr April 22010 010 100

Robert Tarimo, marketing manager, Dow Wire and Cable.

QUALITY CONTROL Robert Tarimo, marketing manager, global HV solutions, Dow Wire and Cable, reveals the issues surrounding the quality of cable How does Dow interact with the cabling industr y? Our business predominantly manufacturers cross polyethelyene compounds that are used to manufacture underground cables for low, medium and high voltage cables. We sell those compounds to cable manufacturers. As this region and other regions across the globe invest

increasingly in electrical transmission and distribution systems, we believe that the selection speciﬁcation standard of raw materials or plastic compounds is an important element to ensure the reliability of these systems. How important is quality in cables? If you are spending billions of dollars or dhirrams to install these systems, you want to be sure that they will last a long time. So we have introduced a new way to allow utilities to identify quality cables that are made from quality materials.

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CABLE FOCUS

MARKET EXPERIENCE

“On an average network you are losing 9% of power through the actual process of transmitting it” Robert Tarimo, marketing manager, Dow Wire and Cable.

What are the challenges you face? In all geographies what we are seeing is two critical requirements. One is the requirement to build new transmission and distribution infrastructure and the other is to renew that infrastructure. The renewal is taking place in more developed economies and the new build is taking place in developing economies. The challenge of course is making sure that one is selecting the right cable of the right quality, so cables can last a long time. So we see that as a critical challenge. We also have seen some sort of a drop in activity due to the economic downturn which is affecting all regions equally. But in terms of the long term trends in this industry we think there will be steady growth over time because of the requirements in terms of building and renewing infrastructure. We see this sector as a healthy industry for the foreseeable future. What speciﬁcations should you look for in a cable? On the high voltage side the key requirement in terms of materials is cleanliness. Those cables tend to operate at very high stress levels and the presence of contaminants can cause premature cable failures, so cleanliness of the materials is a key component of them.

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How do you believe technology in thie cabling sector will improve in the next 12 months? We have continuous improvement programmes, in terms of obtaining greater cleanliness levels. But what we are really looking at as a corporation, and what we see as an opportunity for development in the future within the cable market, are solutions that are going to facilitate the easier installation of powercables for utilities. Look at the total cost of power transmission and distribution system, cable is a relatively small part of it but you have massive installation costs and you also have losses in transmitting that power. On an average network you are losing 9% of power through the process of actually transmitting it. So this we see as a big opportunity to develop technologies that allow for the easy installation of cables and to reduce the installation costs and in the future to manage to reduce the losses on the cables. In the next 12 months my hopes would be for a fairly rapid recovery. And then of course a lot more regulation for the quality of cables and the quality of materials, because this is a very important decision to make with the the consequences high if this is not done right.

Ducab recently announced it had achieved global sales of AED2.4 billion during 2009. In the same year the ﬁrm also went through a number of expansions. Andrew Shaw, managing director of the ﬁrm explains the how the year went. “This last year was a very challenging period worldwide, although infrastructure

projects can be counter-cyclical in a downturn as governments spend money in order to stimulate economic activity.” “The Middle East as a whole remained a strong market for Ducab in 2009, and today we believe that customer service is without a doubt the most important aspect of our business. By investing in our products and our partners alike, Ducab will continue to offer reliable cables solutions to its clients whilst contributing to the growth of the national economy here in the UAE.”

Andrew Shaw, managing director, Ducab.

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 33

PROJECTS

UTILITIES PROJECT TRACKER Information is supplied by Ventures Middle East. Tel: +971 2 622 2455. URL: www.ventures-uk.com MIDDLE EAST Project Title

Client

Consultant

Main Contractor

Value / Project Status Value Range (US$. Mn)

Project Type

Al Fanar Contracting

project under construction

Power Transmission

project under construction

Power Transmission

project under construction

Desalination Plant

245

project under construction

Desalination Plant

SAUDI

9023/9001 Underground Cables

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

380kV Transmission Line North of Riyadh

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Desalination Plant & Drinking Emaar Economic City,Saudi Water Infrastructure Kuljian Engineering Corporation

KEC International / Al Sharif Group for Contracting & Development Trading Huta-Hegerfeld & HutaMarine Limited Company Doosan Heavy Industries & Const. Company / Saudi Berkefeld Filter (Witco)

Desalination Plant in Jeddah - Phase 3

Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)

115kV Underground Cables in Madina 2nd Industrial City

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Siemens

project under construction

Power Transmission

132/13.8 kV 8122-Substation in Al Morooj

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Al-Osais Group

project under construction

Substation

10J Substation & 101 Satellite Substation in Yanbu Princess Noura Bin Abdulrahman University - High Voltage Substation

Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY)

Siemens

150

project under construction

Substation

Ministry of Higher Education / Ministry of Finance

ABB Contracting Co. / Al Fanar Contracting

167

project under construction

Substation

Yanbu IWPP

The Power & Water Utilities Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Maraﬁq)/Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)

Mohammed A.Turki Mott MacDonald

Not Appointed

4000

project under design

Power and Desalination Plant

Qsai Dam at Jizan

Ministry of Water and Electricity,Saudi Arabia

Zuhair Fayez & Partners

Bin Jarallah Establishment for Trading & General Contracting (Bin Jarallah Group)

project under construction

Dam

380/110/13.8-kV Substation Expansion in Al Aziziyah Area

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Siemens, Saudi

project under construction

Substation

Power Plant Expansion Duba

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Najm Al Jazirah for Trading 120 Contracting & Agriculture Co.

project under construction

Power Plant

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) - Power Grid Package

Emaar Middle East Properties

Siemens

400

project under construction

Substation

Not Appointed

2500

project under design

Power & Desalination Plant

project under construction

Dam

120

project under construction

Substation

Not Appointed

300

EPC Bid

Power Plant

ABB Contracting Co., Saudi Arabia

project under construction

Substation

Not Appointed

1500

project in concept stage

Power Plant

Al Toukhi Company for Industry & Trading

project under construction

Substation

Saudi Arabian Mining ComPower and Water Plant in Ras pany (Maaden) / Rio Tinto Al Zour Alcan New Dam in Abha Substations 9024 and 8183/8184 Interim Power Plant at Yanbu Rabigh IPP - 380-KV Substation Uqair Power Plant 380 Substation at Al Dhahiyah - Stage2

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Ministry of Water and Electricity Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) The Power & Water Utilities Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Maraﬁq) Saudi Electricity Company (SEC); ACWA Power International; Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco); Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Zuhair Fayez & Partners

Bin Jarallah Establishment for Trading & General Contracting (Bin Jarallah Group) ABB Contracting Co., Saudi Arabia

April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 35

PROJECTS PP11 Power Plant in Riyadh

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Karan Gas Field Exploration - Utilities and Co-generation Package

Saudi Aramco

Qurayyah - 2 Simple Cycle Power Plant

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Foster Wheeler, Saudi Arabia

Not Appointed

2133

EPC Bid

Power Plant

Petrofac, Saudi

500

project under construction

Co-generation Plant

Arabian Bemco Contracting, Saudi Arabia; Doosan Heavy 1900 Industries & Const. Company, Saudi Arabia;

project under construction

Power Plant

Not Appointed

3000

EPC Bid

Not Appointed

1800

EPC Bid

Alstom Power / Sidem

3,000

project under construction

UAE

Hassyan Complex - Station P - Phase 1 (P1)

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

Hassyan Sea-Water Cooling System

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

Fujairah 2 (F2) IWPP

ADWEA/ Marubeni Corporation/ International Power

Water Treatment Plant - Das Island

Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco)

Metito Abu Dhabi LLC

project under construction

Power and Desalination Plant Water Distribution Power and Desalination Plant Water Treatment

Desalination Plant near Hamriyah Free Zone

Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA)

Aqua Engineering, Techton Engineering & Construction

122

project under construction

Desalination Plant

General Utility Plant Expansion at Ruwais

Abu Dhabi Oil ReďŹ nery Company (Takreer)

Not Appointed

500

EPC Bid

Power Plant

Upgrade of Irrigation Networks and Pumping Stations

Department of Municipalities & Agriculture-Abu Dhabi

Not Appointed

EPC Bid

Pumping Station

Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority / Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

Korean Electric Power Company / Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company/ Samsung C & T Corporation/ Doosan Heavy Industries

41000

project under construction

Power Plant

Installation of 11kV Cables in Dubai

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

Econ Contracting LLC

project under construction

Power Transmission

Two Desalination Plants in Ajman

Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA)

Tecton Engineering & Construction; Aqua Engineering;

200

project under construction

Desalination Plant

11kV Overhead Transmission Line for Subiya Road

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait

National Contracting Company (NCC), Kuwait

project under construction

Power Transmission

New Substations in Kuwait

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait

Not Appointed

EPC Bid

Substation

Water Storage Tanks in West Funaitees

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait

Not Appointed

500

EPC Bid

Water Distribution

Shuwaikh Desalination Plant

Ministry of Energy (Electricity & Water)

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Kuwait

320

project under construction

Desalination Plant

Al Zour Desalination Plant Phase 2

Parsons Ministry of Electricity & Water Brinckerhoff (MEW), Kuwait International, Kuwait

Not Appointed

120

EPC Bid

Desalination Plant

Not Appointed

1000

Feasibility Study

Power Plant

Energoprojekt Entel, Qatar

Hyosung Group, South Korea

1500

project under construction

Power Transmission

Energoprojekt Entel, Qatar

Not Appointed

125

project under design

Desalination Plant

Mott MacDonald, Dubai

Fichtner

KUWAIT

QATAR

Solar Power Plant Qatar Power Transmission System Expansion - Phase 9 Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant Pilot Project

36 Utilities Middle East

â&#x2014;?

Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa) Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa)

April 2010

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TENDERS

Tender activity

To add a tender to our listing, email details to lutﬁ.qaraman@itp.com

Visit constructionweekonline.com for the latest tender information

UME provides free access to the latest publicly available tender listings from across GCC countries. The tenders included are aggregated from a wide variety of public and private sector sources from across the region. Where possible, tenders include the issuer, name and category of the tender; opening and closing dates; narratives; fees, bonds and contacts

CONSTRUCTION OF DAMD WATER TREATMENT PLANT NEAR TO DAMD DAM Issuer: Ministry of Water & Electricity Tender no: 16/1431/1432 Title: Construction of Damd Water Treatment Plant near to Damd Dam Description: The scope of work includes construction of Damd Water Treatment Plant near to Damd Dam in Saudi Arabia. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 3000.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 4, 2010 Contact: http://app.mowe.gov.sa ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION WORKS IN KHASAB AT MUSANDAM GOVERNORATE Issuer: Rural Areas Eletricity Compant S.A.O.C Tender no: 53/2010 Title: Electrical Distribution Works in Khasab at Musandam Governorate Description: The scope of work includes electrical distribution works (11k.v network extensions) to feed power supply to Khasab at Musandam governorate. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 315.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 5, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om NEW 220-KV SOHAR POWER GRID STATION Issuer: Oman Electricity Transmission Company Tender no: 52/2010 Title: New 220-kV Sohar Power Grid Station Description: The scope of work includes construction of new 220-kV Sohar power grid station and installation of required overhead lines. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 5, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om DESALINATION PLANT WADI MARIR IN AL SHARQIYAH REGION Issuer: Public Authority for Electricity and Water Tender no: 49/2010 Title: Desalination Plant Wadi Marir in Al Sharqiyah Region Description: The scope of work includes construction of

38 Utilities Middle East

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April 2010

desalination plant Wadi Marir in Al Sharqiyah Region. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 200.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 5, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om CONSTRUCTION OF 11-LV CABLE FEEDERS FROM AZAIBA GRID STATION TO MUSCAT WAVE Issuer: Muscat Electricity Distribution Co. (S.A.O.C) Tender no: 62/2010 Title: Construction of 11-LV Cable Feeders from Azaiba Grid Station to Muscat Wave Description: The scope of work includes construction of 11-LV cable feeders from Azaiba Grid Station to Muscat Wave. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 5, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om POTABLE WATER NETWORK IN AL-ATAWLAH CITY Issuer: Ministry of Water & Electricity Tender no: 65/1431/1432 Title: Potable Water Network in Al-Atawlah City Description: The scope of work includes construction of potable water network in Al-Atawlah City, Al Baha province. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1000.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 5, 2010 Contact: MAINTENANCE AND REPLACEMENT OF AIR CONDITIONING UNITS Issuer: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Tender no: SQ/MC/609 Title: Maintenance and Replacement of Air Conditioning Units Description: The scope of work includes providing maintenance and replacement of air conditioning units in both of the school buildings for boys and girls, the building of the clinic and the building of the fraternal hospitality station. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 500.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 10, 2010 Contact: http://www.swcc.gov.sa

WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN HADITHA OUTLET Issuer: Ministry of Finance Tender no: 1220 Title: Water Treatment Plant in Haditha Outlet Description: The scope of work includes construction of water treatment plant in Haditha outlet. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 3000.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 11, 2010 Contact: http://www.mof.gov.sa DESALINATION PLANT AT MANADHIF IN AL WUSTA REGION Issuer: Public Authority for Electricity and Water Tender no: 58/2010 Title: Desalination Plant at Manadhif in Al Wusta Region Description: The scope of work includes construction of desalination plant at Manadhif in Al Wusta region. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1450.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 12, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om WDC IN MINA ABDULLAH - PHASE 2 Issuer: Central Tenders Committee Tender no: MEW/58/2009/2010 Title: WDC in Mina Abdullah - Phase 2 Description: The scope of work includes construction of water distribution centre (WDC) in Mina Abdullah, Kuwait. Bond: Applicable Tender fee: 4000.00 KWD ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 13, 2010 Contact: Central Tenders Committee - Ministry of Electricity & Water OHTL IN BATHA OUTLET Issuer: Ministry of Finance Tender no: 1222 Title: OHTL in Batha Outlet Description: The scope of work includes construction of overheat transmission line (OHTL) in Batha outlet. The line will be used to supply power for petrol station in Batha outlet. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1000.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) www.utilities-me.com

TENDERS

Closes: Apr 13, 2010 Contact: http://www.mof.gov.s

KEY CONTRACT

SUPPLY, INSTALLATION & CONNECTION OF TEMPORARY POWER IN KUWAIT Issuer: Central Tenders Committee Tender no: MEW/114/2009/2010 Title: Supply, Installation & Connection of Temporary Power in Kuwait Description: The scope of work includes supply, installation & connection of temporary power in Kuwait. Bond: Applicable Tender fee: 1500.00 KWD ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 13, 2010 Contact: Central Tenders Committee - Ministry of Electricity & Water CONSTRUCTION OF 220-KV POWER CABLE FROM JAHLOUT SUBSTATION TO SUR SUBSTATION Issuer: Oman Electricity Transmission Company Tender no: 74/2010 Title: Construction of 220-kV Power Cable from Jahlout Substation to Sur substation Description: The scope of work includes cnstruction of 220-kV power cable from Jahlout Substation to Sur Substation in Oman. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 19, 2010 Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.om CONSTRUCTION OF RAS AZ ZAWR POWER AND DESALINATION PLANT - PHASE 1 Issuer: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Tender no: RZP-D Title: Construction of Ras Az Zawr Power and Desalination Plant - Phase 1 Description: The scope of work includes construction of Ras Az Zawr power and desalination plant - phase 1. The contract covers two packages, package “P” for power plant & package “D” for desalination plant. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 200000.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 20, 2010 Contact: http://www.swcc.gov.sa ELECTRO-CHLORINATION PLANT AT JUBAIL PLANT - PHASE 1 Issuer: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Tender no: JB/R/E/344 Title: Electro-Chlorination Plant at Jubail Plant ? Phase 1 Description: The scope of work includes design, engineering, manufacture & supply, installation, testing & commissioning of the Electro-Chlorination Plant at Jubail Plant ? Phase 1. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 500.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 21, 2010 Contact: http://www.swcc.gov.sa www.utilities-me.com

EXPANSION OF EXISTING DESALINATION PLANT AT AL KHUWAIMAH The scope of work includes expansion of an exisitng desalination plant at Al Khuwaimah in Oman. The expansion includes increasing the capacity of water desalination by 300m3 per day. The contract also includes operation and maintenance of the desalination plant. Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

10 MIGD SWRO DESALINATION PLANT AT AL ZAWRAH Issuer: Federal Electricity & Water Authority Tender no: 4EW/2010 Title: 10 MIGD Swro Desalination Plant at Al Zawrah Description: The scope of work includes construction of 10 MIGD Swro Desalination Plant at Al Zawrah, Ajman. Bond: Applicable Tender fee: 5000.00 AED ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 22, 2010 400-KV XLPE UNDERGROUND CABLE Issuer: Central Tenders Committee Tender no: MEW/112/2009/2010 Title: 400-kV XLPE Undergroung Cable Description: The scope of work includes construction of 400-kV XLPE underground cable and associated works in Kuwait. Bond: Applicable Tender fee: 2000.00 KWD ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 25, 2010 Contact: Central Tenders Committee - Ministry of Electricity and Water NEW 220-KV MISFAH AND BARKA GRID STATIONS Issuer: Oman Electricity Transmission Company Tender no: 85/2010 Title: New 220-Kv Misfah and Barka Grid Stations Description: The scope of work includes construction of 220-kv Misfah and Barka grid stations and installation of required overhead lines and is located in the Sultanate of Oman. Bond: N/A

Tender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 26, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om CONSTRUCTION OF DESALINATION PLANT AT AL KAHEL IN WUSTA REGION Issuer: Public Authority for Electricity and Water Tender no: 84/2010 Title: Construction of Desalination Plant at Al Kahel in Wusta Region Description: The scope of work includes engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of desalination plant at Al-Kahel in the Wusta Region, which is located in the Sultanate of Oman. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 225.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 26, 2010 Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om REHABILITATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN YANBU - PHASE 1 Issuer: Saline Water Conversion Corporation Tender no: YM/R/M/148 Title: Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Water Treatment Plant in Yanbu - Phase 1 Description: The scope of work includes the rehabilitation and the reconstruction of a water treatment plant in Yanbu Phase 1, which is a project located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Bond: N/A Tender fee: 500.00 SAR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Apr 26, 2010 Contact: http://www.swcc.gov.sajavascript:window.history. go(-1) April 2010

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Utilities Middle East 39

QUICK Q&A

PEOPLE METER Emerging markets Noaman Amjad, head of ABB’s Power Systems division in the Sub-Gulf region talks to Utilities Middle East on how to rise up from an economic crisis How do you think the Middle East power market will recover from the economic crisis? There is no questioning the fact that the power market was also impacted by the ﬁnancial crisis. Many projects in execution in the Gulf, especially connected to the real estate sector, were affected and new developments are taking some time to come onto the regional market. That said, there were also several large opportunities by the main state owned utilities that materialised and were awarded as projects. During 2009, Kuwait MEW, Kaharama Qatar, ADWEA & DEWA all awarded water and power generation, transmission and distribution projects. Furthermore most of these utilities have solid growth and investment plans into 2010 and beyond. What challenges are you facing aside from the crisis? By acting quickly and decisively, we delivered a good 2009 results well within our proﬁtability target, despite the worst recession in memory. We are in a stronger position today than we were a year ago and have successfully positioned ourselves for growth as the econ-

40 Utilities Middle East

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April 2010

omy recovers. During the year we also saw an accelerated shift in global demand patterns to emerging and developing markets such as those in India, the Middle East and Africa. From a technology viewpoint, balancing the need for more power whilst lowering the impact of climate change presents many challenges and opportunities. For example renewables and their integration, smart grids, power quality, improved network management and control down to distribution level, etc are some of the challenges that face the power industry today. Many of the technologies needed for the future electrical systems are already well estab-

many of these technologies. ABB is in an excellent position to take the lead in providing tailor-made solutions for the further development of smart electrical systems. Which are the major growth areas of the company? The economic situation in 2009 has shown the global importance of emerging economies in the recovery process. The ﬁnancial crisis hit our mature markets in some areas and we have seen a clear global shift in demand to emerging markets. We have also realised that emerging markets do not always need to develop a huge export business to grow – as their own economic development is creating an enor-

“The economic situation has shown the global importance of emerging economies in the recovery process” lished and now need to be more widely applied. ABB, with its broad portfolio of power technologies, control systems and energy efﬁcient applications, has pioneered

mous domestic demand by itself. For example, a very large percentage of the products we build in India and China are consumed by the Indian market.

Another area of growth for us is energy efficiency. The industry wants to be as efficient as possible and get the maximum amount of resources out of the ground and utilise them as best they can for the lowest cost. ABB can definitely help here as we have a host of energy-efficient technology to choose from. How do you expect this to change in the future? We think that the emerging markets and their performance will remain a key cornerstone of the global economic recovery in the years to come. What are your hopes for the next 12 months? We are looking towards the next 12 months with both enthusiasm and optimism. The economic climate continues to remain challenging, but with our broad portfolio of power and automation technologies we see that we can really contribute to our customers’ success by ensuring energy efficiency, grid reliability and to help improve industrial productivity. This is not just with the power and water utilities but also with a wide range of other industry sectors as well. www.utilities-me.com

Not just a long company history with continuous control and improvement of quality but also innovative engineering and a customer-oriented attitude. With more than 40 years’ expertise, targeted product development, and flexibility in production and after-sales, we respond to the specific demands of our customers.

Vexve Water Metering – Make the Difference

« Remote Read « Hitech « Apartment-Based Water Metering System

Vexve Water Metering’s green goal is to reduce water consumption. The Vexve Water Metering System provides valuable information on our water consumption habits.

Vexve Group Pajakatu 11 FI-38200 Sastamala Finland Tel +358 10 734 0800 Fax +358 10 734 0839 vexve@vexve.fi www.vexve.fi

In this system, one of the most modern and efficient flat-based metering systems, use of the Internet and the building’s power network ensures reliable data transfer. The compact water meter operates smoothly in combination with the building’s central- and apartment units. Data can be read easily when residents see their consumption to the nearest litre.

Make Your Footprint a Green One – Vexve Water Metering