Energy Review April 2019 Issue 02

The East Mediterranean set to change the global landscape in exportation of LPG

Keep the lights on with a resilient converged FAN

Chasing the bus of global warming

Table of content

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Keep the lights on with a resilient converged FAN

The East Mediterranean set to change the global landscape in exportation of LPG

14 04 > Energy News 12 > Technology & Smart Cities News 20 > Renewable News 24 > How Europe is

16 “Bee’ah is close to achieving its zerowaste goal”Mohammed bin Kuwair

22 Fueling efficiency: How to increase profits and streamline operations in the energy sector

coping with renewable energy targets 26 > Financial News 28 > Chasing the bus of global warming 30 > Policy & Regulations News

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Toni Eid, Editor in Chief & CEO

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Mediterranean gas may change the global export of LPG

n the last few years there has been a lot of exploration activities for gas reserves in the Mediterranean that may change the map and landscape of gas exports.

Russia, Qatar & Algeria are all considered to be among the top producers of gas worldwide.

Egypt used to be a large producer, but 70% of its production was primarily used for its local market.

However, in 2018, Italian company Eni, global oil and gas super-player, discovered huge reserves off the Egyptian coast putting Egypt again among the top exporters of gas.

The discovery by Eni has now made Egypt Africa’s largest non-OPEC oil producer - and the 3rd largest natural gas producer after Algeria and Nigeria.

Lebanon has already appointed a consortium consisting of Total (French), Eni (Italy) and Novatek (Russia) to start their exploration offshore.

In addition to this, Lebanon is also opening a tender for another exploration for gas in Block 4 with an area of 1911 Km2, which promises to make Lebanon a major gas exporting country.

The exploration of gas from the Mediterranean gives those countries a distinct advantage from other producers, as it’s very close to Europe that usually lay on the Russian gas, and also the Suez Canal represents a shortcut to the Indian Ocean and Asian markets.

The export maps of global export for gas will change soon and this promises an economic boom for the producing countries.

Year 1 - Issue 2 Editor in Chief & CEO Toni Eid toni.eid@tracemedia.info

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Senior Journalist Mark Forker mark@tracemedia.info

Graphic Designer Charbel El Khoury

Journalist Jennifer Saade jennifer.s@tracemedia.info Editorial Team Shelley Beyak (Canada), Toni Eid (UAE), Mark Forker (UAE), Tala Issa (UAE), Martha Kassouf (Lebanon), Lacinan Ouattara (Ivory Coast), Jennifer Saade (Lebanon), Jeff Seal (USA), Christine Ziadeh (Lebanon)

News Provided in cooperation with AFP, the global news agency Published by

Trace Media Ltd. Zouk Mikael, Lebanon Kaslik Sea Side Road, Badawi Group Building, 4th Floor, P.O. Box 90-2113, Jdeidet el Metn Tel. +961 9 211741 M. +961 70 519 666 Trace Media International Dubai Media City, UAE Building 7, 3rd Floor, Office 341 P.O. Box 502498, Dubai, UAE Tel. +971 4 4474890 M. +971 55 639 7080 Printing Arab Printing Press (Beirut, Lebanon) © All rights reserved Publication of any of the contents is prohibited

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Identifying 530 000 potential pumped hydro energy storage sites electrical grid is extending considerably.

This means “additional long-distance high voltage transmission, demand management and local storage is required for stability.”

The massive storage potential of about 22 million GWh “is about one hundred times greater than required to support a 100% global renewable electricity system,” ANU says.

There is a total of about 530,000 potentially feasible pumped hydro energy storage sites worldwide, with a total storage potential of about 22 million GWh. These astonishing numbers come from a report recently released

by Professor Andrew Blakers and other

researchers with Australian National University’s RE100 Group.

Pumped hydro already constitutes 97% of electricity storage worldwide because of its low cost, ANU says, and the proportion of wind and solar photovoltaics in the

The identified sites are outside national parks and are mostly closed-loop (not river-based). Each identified site comprises an upper and lower reservoir pair plus a hypothetical tunnel route between the reservoirs, and includes data such as latitude, longitude, altitude, head, slope, water volume, water area, rock volume, dam wall length, water/rock ratio, energy storage potential and approximate relative cost (categories A-E). Brownfield sites (existing reservoirs, old mining sites) will be included in a future analysis.

Investing in a “smart” way in the GCC

According to the MENA Power Industr y Outlook, the use of smart grids could help the GCC save up to $10 billion in infrastructural investment in the coming year.

The report, prepared by Ventures Onsite for Middle East Electricity, the world’s largest annual power industry trade platform, describes the development of smart grids as “one of the most important steps towards improving electricity diversification and

conservation in the GCC.” In addition, it expects that the value of the GCC smart grid market will grow to US$ 1.68 billion by 2026 as regional governments step up their deployment of smart grid infrastructure amid heightening demand for energy storage systems.

“Smart grids are essential in managing robust energy demand and mitigating the impact of climate change and global warming. Smart grids enable

nations to meet their obligations under the Paris Accord,” said Claudia Konieczna, Exhibition Director – Informa Industrial Group.“This critical dynamic is why energy storage and management are a dedicated pillar at Middle East Electricity 2019. With growth in the GCC renewable energy market expected to also drive smart grid technology adoption, the energy storage and management segment will run in close collaboration with our dedicated Solar segment – the pair are interlinked,” she added.

Claudia continues, “whilst the adoption of renewables continues to rise, the ongoing challenge faced by government, utilities and even commercial projects is locking in the energy generated to provide reliable, on-demand power. A whole range of international manufacturers have signed up for the show to demonstrate the latest innovative and cost-effective technologies informing this vital segment.”

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Not dealing with nuclear waste is a big deal Nuclear waste is piling up around the world even as countries struggle to dispose of spent fuel that will remain highly toxic for many thousands of years, detailed Greenpeace in a report.

An analysis of waste storage facilities in seven countries with nuclear power revealed that several were near saturation, the anti-nuclear NGO said.

All these nations also confronted other problems that have yet to be fully contained: fire risk, venting of radioactive gases, environmental contamination, failure of containers, terrorist attacks and escalating costs.

Currently, there is a global stockpile of around 250,000 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel distributed across some 14 countries. Most of this fuel remains in so-called “cooling pools” at reactor sites that lack secondary containment and remain vulnerable to a loss of cooling. Some lack a source of back-up power.

The partial meltdown of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 made clear that the high-heat hazard of spent fuel pools is not hypothetical.

The 100-page report, compiled by a panel of experts, dissected shortcomings in the management of voluminous waste in France, which has the second largest nuclear reactor fleet (58) after the United States (about 100).French oversight bodies have already raised concerns about capacity of massive

cooling pools in Normandy at the La Hague site.

Nuclear waste from uranium mining is also a major environmental concern. The world’s inventory of uranium mill tailings - sandy waste material that can seep into the local environment - was estimated at more than two billion tons as of 2011.

The other countries covered in the report are Belgium, Japan, Sweden, Finland and Britain.

Skyrocketing global energy demand by 2040 be hit by the superpower’s economic slowdown and is expected to be outpaced by India.

China will remain the largest source of growth in energy supplies, driven by rapid expansion in renewables and nuclear power, but its appetite will be sapped partly by efficiency measures. World oil demand growth was meanwhile set to grow for the first part of the outlook, met by booming US shale oil production.However, it was then expected to plateau as US shale output declines and OPEC oil production recovers, according to BP.

Global energy demand will surge by a third over the next two decades on advancing prosperity, but Indian demand growth will eclipse that of flagging giant China, Britain’s BP expects.

China and India will together account for more than half of the growth in energy consumption during the forecast period, according to BP. However, Chinese demand growth will

Global gross domestic product was expected to more than double by 2040, aided by growing prosperity.BP stressed however that two thirds of the world’s population will still live in nations where average energy consumption per head is relatively low, highlighting the need for more energy.

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Significant gas discovery Total completes innovative ultra-deep-water offshore project in Angola offshore Egypt

Eni announced a new gas discovery under evaluation in the Nour exploration prospect located in the Nour North Sinai Concession, in the Eastern Egyptian Mediterranean, about 50 km North of the Sinai Peninsula.The Nour1 New Field Wildcat (NFW), which has led to the discovery, was drilled by the Scarabeo-9 semi-sub in a water depth of 295 meters and reached a total depth of 5,914 meters. Nour-1 well found 33 meters of gross sandstone pay with good petrophysical properties and an estimated gas column of 90 meters in the Tineh formation of Oligocene age.

In the concession, which is in participation with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), Eni is the operator with a 40% stake, BP holds a 25% stake, Mubadala Petroleum a 20% stake while Tharwa Petroleum Company a 15% stake of the contractor’s share.

The JV Operator will start the feasibility studies to accelerate the exploitation of these new resources leveraging the synergies with existing facilities and infrastructures, after finalizing the discovery evaluation. Eni in Egypt operates through its subsidiary Ieoc since 1954. The company is the country’s leading producer with equity above 340,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day that will further growth in 2019 with the ramp up of the Zohr Project to production plateau.

Total has started up production on Kaombo Sul, the second Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit of the Kaombo project, located on Block 32, 260 kilometers off the coast of Luanda, in water depths ranging from 1,400 to 2,000 meters.

Eight months after its sister ship, Kaombo Norte, came on stream, Kaombo Sul will add 115,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and bring the overall production capacity

to 230,000 bopd, equivalent to 15% of the country’s production. The full Kaombo development consists of six fields spread over an area of 800 km2. Gengibre, Gindungo and Caril were connected to the Kaombo Norte FPSO which started up last year, while the three fields, Mostarda, Canela and Louro, have now been connected to Kaombo Sul. Kaombo also sets a new record in terms of local content in Angola as 20% of the 110 million project hours were worked locally.

Total operates Block 32 with a 30% participating interest, along with Sonangol P&P (30%), Sonangol Sinopec International 32 Limited (20%), Esso Exploration & Production Angola (Overseas) Limited (15%) and Galp Energia Overseas Block 32 B.V. (5%).

Bahrain will witness largest industrial project of $4.2bn worth engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) lump sum turnkey basis.

State-owned oil firm Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has started the expansion of its Sitra oil refinery located south of Manama by laying a foundation stone, considering this project the largest industrial project in the country’s history.

The Bapco Modernization Program (BMP) is expected to increase the capacity of the oil refinery from 267,000 barrels per day (bpd) up to 380,000 bpd.

In December 2017, a consortium of TechnipFMC, Samsung Engineering and Tecnicas Reunidas, was awarded a $4.2bn contract to execute the project on an

Expected to be completed in 2022, the expansion project will include a residue hydrocracking unit, hydrocracker unit, hydro desulphurization unit, crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation unit, saturated gas plant, hydrogen production unit, and hydrogen recovery unit. In addition, the project will have units for sulphur recovery, tail gas treatment, sour water stripping, amine recovery, bulk acid gas removal and sulphur solidification, as well as sulphur handling facilities.Apart from the expansion of the refining capacity, the key objectives of the project include improving the product slate by converting more bottom of the barrel into high-value products and enhancing gross margin.

Other focus areas include energy efficiency and environmental compliance.

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The East Mediterranean set to change the global landscape in exportation of LPG The number of gas exploration discoveries off the coast of the Mediterranean has continued to proliferate over the last few years and the impact of these finds could fundamentally reshape the landscape of LPG exportation on a global scale.

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Egypt is now the biggest non-OPEC oil producer in Africa

‘supergiant’ and claimed that the Zohr project would enable Egypt to be able to serve their own natural gas and energy demands for decades to come.

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talian energy behemoth Eni has been at the center of many of these major gas discoveries that have occurred recently in the Mediterranean – and nowhere is this better evidenced than in Egypt.

Traditionally, Egypt was a major producer of LPG, but 70% of its production was primarily used for its local market which prevented it from becoming a major player in the energy ecosystem. However, following the success of a number of exploration projects conducted by Eni, the country is now the biggest non-OPEC oil producer in Africa.

In addition to this, Egypt is now also the 3rd largest producer of natural gas in Africa after Algeria and Nigeria who are both OPEC members. The gas discoveries in Egypt have the potential to completely transform the country’s often unstable economic position. Egypt has been dogged by poor infrastructure

and a lack of investment over the years but its resurgence as a major player in the exportation of LPG offers hope.

In 2013, if anybody had suggested that Egypt had the potential to become a Mediterranean energy hub, you would’ve been scoffed at and met with widespread ridicule. That was because at that time following a political coup which swept Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to power the country couldn’t even keep the lights on.

The Zohr project will go a long, long way to help serve and satisfy the local demand, but crucially it will allow the country to change its reputation from being a net importer to a net exporter and that will inevitably trigger economic benefits that can rejuvenate a country that has already announced ambitious and progressive digital transformation programs.

The country was plunged into darkness with blackouts becoming an everyday occurrence and the energy shortage ultimately forced major manufacturing operations to shut down.

Eni has announced plans to invest more than $10bn in Egypt by 2022.

The company and other firms have struck onshore gas in the western desert, where the government is keen to explore further. “All the offshore works in the Mediterranean are east of the [Nile] delta. The west is unexplored,” says Tarek al-Molla, the petroleum minister.

However, in 2015, the country’s energy woes dissipated when Eni announced that it had found the largest ever offshore natural gas field in the Mediterranean off the Egyptian coast.

At the time of the discovery, the Italian consortium dubbed the gas field as a

Mediterranean gas will have no shortage of buyers. Demand is soaring in developing countries. Consumption in China alone grew by 15% last year.

But it would be particularly attractive to Europe, which depends on Russian gas - European imports from Russia

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hit a record high in 2017. However, former Soviet states have expressed their fear that this gives Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, too much leverage and power over them from a negotiation standpoint. His country has cut off supplies in the past.

However, Egypt and its neighbors now offer an alternative path that can help Europe diversify its suppliers. In order for Egypt to become that key player for Europe, there are a number of significant hurdles and barriers it must overcome first to achieve its economic objectives. Firstly, new liquefaction terminals would create jobs and revenue for Egypt.

Additionally, this would provide a huge boost for Cyprus, where Eni is exploring a Zohr-like field called Calypso off the south-western coast.

New discovery Eni announced just a few weeks ago a new gas discovery under evaluation in

the Nour exploration prospect located in the Nour North Sinai Concession, in the Eastern Egyptian Mediterranean, about 50 km North of the Sinai peninsula.

Eni clarified that the Nour-1 New Field Wildcat (NFW), which has led to the discovery, was drilled by the Scarabeo-9 semi-sub in a water depth of 295 meters and reached a total depth of 5,914 meters.

According to the Italian company, Nour-1 well found 33 meters of gross sandstone pay with good petro physical properties and an estimated gas column of 90 meters in the Tineh formation of Oligocene age. The well has not been tested; however, an intense and accurate data acquisition has been carried out.

“In the concession, Eni is the operator with a 40 percent stake in cooperation with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), BP holds a 25 percent stake, Mubadala Petroleum

a 20 percent stake while Tharwa Petroleum Company a 15 percent stake of the contractor’s share,” the company noted.

It added that he JV Operator will start the feasibility studies to accelerate the exploitation of these new resources, leveraging the synergies with existing facilities and infrastructures, after finalizing the discovery evaluation.

Eni has operated in Egypt through its subsidiary Ieoc since 1954. The company is the country’s leading producer with equity above 340,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day that will further grow in 2019 with the ramp up of the Zohr Project to production plateau.

Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said that Eni seeks to pump investments of $3 billion in Egypt during the upcoming period. Descalzi added that the total investments pumped in Noras and Zohr fields so far have reached $8.4 billion, noting that 70 percent of the company’s investments exist in Egypt.

11 Lebanon’s first bid-round will then head directly to southern Block 9 to drill a second well in the first half of 2020.

Sources close to the project claim that Total and Lebanese authorities regard Block 4 as a significantly less prospective block than 9, but Total plans to use exploration at Block 4 to test the northward extension of the Oligocene and Miocene sandstone formation home of major nearby discoveries off Israel and Cyprus. This also partially explains why Total plans to drill the less promising but less politically contentious asset first, and would suggest that the outcome from Block 4 will inform the strategy taken at Block 9.

Countries like Egypt and Lebanon provide an alternative option for Europe’s exportation demands

Egypt have also recently signed several oil agreements for the exploration of oil and gas in several areas, including the Mediterranean, Western desert, Nile Delta and the Gulf of Suez. The number of signed petroleum agreements since 2014 reached 88 and the authority is working on signing 13 new agreements.

Lebanon Lebanon is another country with huge potential for unearthing gas fields in the Mediterranean – and the country has wasted no time in appointing a consortium of experts consisting of Eni, Total and Novatek to begin their exploration efforts off its rugged coast.

The breakdown of the consortium is as follows: Total 40%, Eni 40%, Russia’s Novatek 20% and all are currently reviewing seismic data and are on track to spud Lebanon’s first offshore exploration well in Block 4 in November or December. In addition to this, the consortium, awarded exploration Blocks 4 and 9 in late 2017 as part of

Lebanon also has a much larger domestic market in comparison to some of its neighboring countries like Cyprus for example – and it also has easier potential export options. Peak electricity demand stands at around 3.5GW versus 1GW in Cyprus, and this figure is expected to hit 5.2GW by 2030. The country is also planning a multi-billion dollar investment in gas-fired power plants over the next five years.

Lebanon’s Petroleum Authority (LPA) says even a 1tcf field would be commercial, though Total may need some convincing on that front.

These are exciting times for countries like Egypt and Lebanon who could be become major energy hubs in the Mediterranean. Egypt in particular is well-positioned to become a major player and the impact for the country’s economy would be seismic.

The exploration of gas from the Mediterranean gives those countries a distinct advantage from other producers as it is based so closely to Europe.

As aforementioned above, countries like Egypt and Lebanon provide an alternative option for Europe’s exportation demands and remove the pressure they’ve faced from Russia who’ve enjoyed a monopoly on exportation in the region. In addition to this, the Suez Canal offers increased accessibility and a shortcut to the Indian Ocean and Asia markets and all these factors are destined to make the Mediterranean a major new player in the LPG market.

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Eni and SABIC to develop ExxonMobil leading the energy sector with its digital partnership with Microsoft a joint technology for ExxonMobil’s partnership with natural gas Microsoft includes an integrated cloud

environment that securely and reliably collects real-time data from oil field assets spanning hundreds of miles. The data will enable ExxonMobil to make faster and better decisions on drilling optimization, well completions and prioritization of personnel deployment.

Eni and SABIC signed a Joint Development Agreement to further develop an innovative technology for natural gas conversion into synthesis gas that can be further transformed into high value fuels and chemicals, such as methanol.

The partnership will involve, among other activities, the construction of an Industrial Demonstration Plant that will be built and operated inside an Eni industrial premises.

The development project will advance the technology, which is based on the Short Contact Time Catalytic Partial Oxidation (SCTCPO) of natural gas, to further sustain the Eni and SABIC business by using in a more efficient way the cleanest and lower GHG emission fossil fuel.

This technology was initially developed by Eni after an intensive R&D period. This was coupled with SABIC’s short contact time reactor R&D and the company’s extensive knowledge of the integration of synthesis gas generation into processes to produce derived chemicals. With this agreement, Eni and SABIC will be able to leverage world class R&D and operational experience to enable the success of the project.The joint technology will be a truly innovative way of making synthesis gas and integration into high value applications to achieve lower CAPEX and OPEX, higher energy efficiency, lower CO2 footprint and wide feedstock flexibility.

ExxonMobil said a new partnership with Microsoft will make its Permian Basin operations the largest-ever oil and gas acreage to use cloud technology and is expected to generate billions in net cash flow over the next decade through improvements in analyses and enhancements to operational efficiencies.

The application of Microsoft technologies

by ExxonMobil’s XTO Energy subsidiary – including Dynamics 365, Azure, Machine Learning and Internet of Things – is anticipated to improve capital efficiency and support Permian production growth by as much as 50,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2025.

ExxonMobil’s application of these technologies in its Permian Basin acreage, which covers a 9.5 billion oil-equivalent barrel resource base and more than 1.6 million acres, represents industry’s largest acreage position using cloud technology.

Microsoft’s platforms, including Azure Data Lake, will enable ExxonMobil to rapidly incorporate third-party solutions at scale across the Permian. With the additional layer of Microsoft’s intelligent business applications, such as Dynamics 365, ExxonMobil and XTO will have a complete, end-to-end view of the Permian operations.

Falcon Eye Drones promotes cleaner energy practices with ‘Drones for Sustainability’ Falcon Eye Drones, Dubai based dronepowered solutions company, introduced a sustainability practice to the portfolio of its wide range services in the Middle East. Drones for Sustainability vertical is designed to address the growing importance of sustainable business and industry practices across construction, oil and gas, agriculture, mapping, surveying, utilities, energy, and many other highly regulated sectors. Within the framework of the new practice Falcon Eye Drones will be sustainability proofing their upcoming developments by evaluating the amount of carbon footprint that will be avoided by utilizing unmanned aerial

vehicles (UAV). Drones for Sustainability vertical was inspired by the increasing role UAVs play across many industries that lean towards clean energy practices.

New practice was also boosted by the regional market sentiment on renewable energy and sustainability. The Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) renewable energy market is currently dominated by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where power requirements will grow by 6.4% each year until 2022. According to the World Future Energy Summit statement, the Middle East is expected to more than triple its share of renewable energy from 5.6% in 2016 to 20.6% in 2035, with solar making up the lion’s share of this figure. To successfully achieve this target, an estimated USD 30-40 billion of capital will need to be invested in future projects across the region.

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Robot succeeds in lifting molten fuel at Fukushima plant

A robot dispatched into a reactor at the ravaged plant in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, managed to lift small pieces of molten nuclear fuel, a test of crucial importance for future extraction operations.

The machine, remotely controlled from a control room and equipped with various measuring instruments, has managed to catch, with a kind of clamp, pieces of these “debris” and lift them about 5 cm, before putting them back.

Honeywell to promote Kuwait as a world-leading manufacturer in the oil and gas industry it easier and faster for customers to deploy new technologies.

A new facility opened by Honeywell has become Kuwait’s first certified incountry manufacturing, integration and testing center for advanced automation technologies. Honeywell is the first company to build ‘Made in Kuwait’ solutions to power digital transformation across the country’s growing oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. The centre enables product assembly and customer testing and acceptance to be consolidated under one roof, making

Siemens plans digitalizing Shuweihat S2 power plant in Abu Dhabi

The bottom of the containment building of reactor 2, one of the three where the fuel melted, was being observed from six different locations.

The uplift test was successfully completed in five locations, but failed in a location where, according to Tepco, different means will have to be deployed.

This time, the technicians are not planning to take samples, but such an operation should take place by March 2020.

Previous investigations had been carried out in the containment in which the fuel failed, but only remote observations with cameras and robots. This had identified some of the molten fuel.

Aligned to the key goals of New Kuwait Vision 2035 and KPC Vision 2040, Honeywell’s new centre will help transform Kuwait into a world-leading manufacturer in the downstream oil and gas industry.

Last year, Honeywell opened a Customer Experience Center at its offices in Mina Abdullah to give local customers a deeper understanding of Honeywell’s integrated software and hardware solutions for oil and gas facilities and refineries. Prior to that, the Company launched the Honeywell Automation College, which delivers global training capabilities locally through more than 300 courses specifically designed to address the requirements of Kuwait’s power and water, oil and gas, and automation industries.

Siemens announced it has signed an extension of a multi-year maintenance service agreement with Shuweihat S2 Operation and Maintenance Company (S2O&M). Under terms of the contract, Siemens will support the 1,500 megawatt (MW) combined-cycle power and water plant, Shuweihat S2 IWPP in Abu Dhabi.

With the new 18-year extension, Siemens will also deploy products from its Omnivise digital services portfolio including cybersecurity solutions to help improve asset visibility, reliability and availability.

The project will see the deployment of Siemens’ FlexLTP, which provides a high degree of asset availability by extending

intervals between inspections. The program includes an integrated suite of advanced remote monitoring and diagnostics services, such as Asset Monitor. Using advanced data-driven analytics, this service provides a visualization of plant asset data and key performance indicators (KPIs) for early detection of potential issues.

One of the challenges faced by power plant operators is receiving hundreds of false alarms, caused by different factors that could interrupt operations. Utilizing cloud analytics, Siemens’ I&C Monitors and Advisors can identify the root cause of false alarms and help eliminate them.

Siemens will also utilize Remote Resident Engineers, which allows the company’s experts to remotely resolve performance issues and forecast maintenance needs, using a secured network and two-factor authentication to eliminate any cyber risks.

The company’s cybersecurity solutions will help protect the power plant’s operations, maximize system uptime and mitigate exposure to vulnerabilities.

Keep the lights on with a resilient converged FAN

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A converged FAN provides the necessary resiliency to reliably carry all FLISR, VVO and SCADA communications

When the lights go out, lives in a modern society stop.

The interruption of power service can cause hazards to the public and inconvenience to communities, as well as economic losses to businesses. It also creates revenue losses for power utilities. Consequently, improving grid reliability is a major goal of the power industry.

Self-healing systems need reliable FAN connections Unfortunately, service interruptions can and will happen. Cable failures, insulator contaminations, broken utility poles, snowstorms, floods, and even heat waves can all disrupt the constant flow of electricity. To mitigate against the impact on grid reliability, utilities are deploying fault location, isolation and service restoration (FLISR) systems (also

known as fault detection, isolation and restoration (FDIR)). These systems include intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), such as line switches and reclosers. They work in conjunction with distribution management systems (DMS), supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, and grid data processing and analysis tools. Typically, the FLISR operation is supported by a field area network (FAN) that carries grid data, along with command and control messages.

How effective is actually FLISR in improving power service reliability? While global utility data is not always readily available, experience gained by North American utilities can give us some insights.

According to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, FLISR systems can reduce the number of customers interrupted by a disruption by up to 55 percent and the number of customer minutes of interruption by up to 53 percent.

In addition, many utilities also deploy volt-VAR optimization (VVO) applications to

15 remedy voltage drops after feeder circuit reconfiguration by FLISR systems during the self-healing process.

While FLISR and VVO are key to grid self-healing and voltage level maintenance, they are only as good as the FAN to which they are connected. If there is a failure in the FAN’s end-to-end communication path, the DMS cannot trigger FLISR applications to resolve circuit faults because fault notifications from remote terminal units (RTUs) or smart meters are not received. A FAN failure also makes it impossible for inline switches to receive service restoration instructions. In short, if the FAN fails, grid self-healing fails.

Converged FAN maintains reliable connectivity for all applications A converged FAN, grounded in LTE and IP/MPLS technologies, contains the resilient multiservice network architecture utilities need to maintain reliable power grids.To provide the reliable and efficient communications network links needed, the FAN should be built on fully redundant endto-end communication paths, as well as a feature-rich LTE IP/MPLS router that can capitalize on all network protection and restoration measures (Figure 1).

The key elements of this resilient, converged, FAN architecture include:

1. A protected LTE link enabled by an LTE IP/MPLS router that brings IP/ MPLS services to all attached IEDs, can detect LTE network faults, and switch traffic to a backup LTE network, when needed 2. A multi-fault resilient IP/MPLS backhaul network that connects all the communication nodes in the distribution grid and can intelligently reroute IED and application communication traffic, as required 3. A hot duplex LTE packet core that serves as the central gateway for LTE radio traffic 4. Multiple headend routers to support all distribution automation application traffic carried over the LTE network and terminating in the active operations center 5. A geo-redundant pair of operations centers where utilities can manage the grid from a standby operations center when the active operations center is seriously damaged 6. A hot redundant pair of network services management platforms to provision, monitor and operate the FAN The multiservice capabilities of a converged FAN built with these elements also provide secure and cost-effective segregated broadband connectivity with quality of service (QoS) assurance to support a plethora of smart grid

Figure 1: Key elements in a resilient FAN architecture

applications. These capabilities also enable open but secure interconnection to other IP networks, if necessary.

Converged FAN strengthens power service reliability Equipped with end-to-end redundant network protection, a converged FAN built on these six elements harnesses the power of IP/MPLS multiservice capability and offers the scalability to support traffic for multiple distribution automation applications. It significantly reduces network operations costs compared to the discrete FAN paradigm. And it protects grid communications to ensure operations integrity. Most importantly, a converged FAN provides the necessary resiliency to reliably carry all FLISR, VVO and SCADA communications during service disruptions when keeping the lights on will ensure business continues as usual for the public, communities and businesses.

For more information about improving service reliability with a converged FAN, read the Nokia white paper “Keep the lights on with improved grid reliability�.

By Hansen Chan, Nokia Senior Marketing Manager, MCA Enterprise IP Product Marketing

“Bee’ah is close to achieving its zerowaste goal”- Mohammed bin Kuwair

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The average person in the UAE generates around 2.7 Kg of waste every day

Working for more than 10 years to create a sustainable future, Bee’ah, the Middle East’s fastest growing environmental management company, represented by Senior Manager for Technical Projects, Mr. Mohammed bin Kuwair, spoke to Energy Review to talk about its biggest project, the waste-toenergy plant, its importance, its risks if any, and the main goal behind bringing such new technology to the UAE.

Recently, Bee’ah and Masdar have completed the financing of the UAE’s first waste to energy plant. Can you outline to us the importance of such plant and how does it operate?

The average person in the UAE generates around 2.7 Kg of waste every day. With the rapid urbanisation in the Middle East, waste production in the region is only expected to increase. Waste-toenergy projects will enable us to tackle this insurmountable problem, in addition to meeting our energy needs. Given the large amount of waste generated daily, this is an inexhaustible source of clean energy, that also ensures that our waste is diverted from landfills.

When waste accumulates in landfills, it also produces harmful gases like methane, which is 18 times more

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poisonous than CO2, and the second biggest contributor to climate change.

By investing in waste-to-energy plants like ours, the GCC can ensure energy diversification and environmental protection, while utilising a source that has been confirmed by experts to be commercially viable.

This facility will incinerate up to 37.5 tons of municipal solid waste per hour

As a sustainability pioneer, Bee’ah has always been interested in investing in new forms of renewable energy.

To further this ambition, Bee’ah signed a MoU with Masdar at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2016 and formed a strategic partnership to explore the potential of waste-to-energy projects in the region. At ADSW’17, both companies formalised the agreement to establish a joint venture, the Emirates Waste to Energy Company (EWEC).

The JDA for the Sharjah Multi-fuel Wasteto-Energy plant, which is the first venture that has resulted from this partnership, was also signed at ADSW’17.

One of the first waste-to-energy facilities in the UAE, this facility will incinerate up to 37.5 tonnes of municipal solid waste per hour, to generate 30 megawatts (MW) of energy, which will be supplied to the Sharjah electricity grid and power up to thousands of homes. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology for the treatment of flue gas, and has been designed to meet the strictest

environmental standards, including the European Union’s Best Available Techniques.

Process: The Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility will incinerate the non-recyclable waste segregated by Bee’ah. The incineration process converts the waste to heat, which is used to generate steam, which is then used to drive an electric generator. The net electrical power produced will be supplied to the Sharjah electricity grid. The flue gas from the waste incineration will be treated before being released into the atmosphere. The by-products, such as bottom ash and fly ash are treated as well, temporarily stored at site and later used in the industry for roads and pavements.

Waste-to-energy is a new technology brought to the region. What are the risks that come with it?

Since waste-to-energy projects are new to the Middle East, significant effort is required to finance and set up the required infrastructure. The most commonly used method is incineration but for this process, advanced technology has to be deployed to ensure minimisation of pollutants and carbon dioxide.

Proper management and disposal of ash produced from the process is also pivotal. To prevent loss of value to the

18 economy, stringent measures have to be taken to ensure that only non-recyclable waste is sent to waste-to-energy plants.

Regardless of what method is used to produce energy, supplying the energy produced to the power grid, has its own set of challenges. Stringent planning and provision of storage facilities is required to ensure consistent performance on a daily basis, so as to prevent intermittent supply of energy. For this purpose, it might also be necessary to evaluate and expand the storage capacity of the grid itself.

The attainment of a zero-waste goal requires an integrated strategy

Knowing this technology has been already available in other countries such as Europe and the US, what factors delayed its arrival to the region?

Waste-to-energy as a technology is complex and comes with a set of risks, which need to be taken into account by the different entities involved in its implementation.

The technology has been available to countries in Europe and the US for a long time. However, the opportunity for it to be implemented in the region with the utmost compliance to environmental regulations has only recently become feasible. That’s because our cities are growing rapidly, and with the amount of waste exponentially increasing, wasteto-energy is a means to move past the practice of landfilling.

What are the main objectives behind this new facility?

According to the National Agenda Vision 2021, the UAE needs to derive 27% of its energy from clean sources, and divert 75% of its waste away from landfills. This facility will support the meeting of these goals by ensuring complete diversion of waste, while monetizing and producing clean, sustainable energy.

The facility will incinerate around 300,000 tonnes of waste per year, diverting it away from landfills.

It will generate 30MW of clean energy, energising over thousands of homes, and

Council and Ruler of Sharjah, Bee’ah set the ambitious target for Sharjah to achieve zero waste when the company was created back in 2007. At present, the emirate diverts 76% of its waste away from landfill.

However, in order to achieve complete diversion, it was necessary to find a way to process non-recyclable materials. In line with Sharjah’s growth and sustainability vision, the emirate was also on the lookout for renewable sources of energy. By investing in wasteto-energy pursuits, Bee’ah has found an effective solution to both of these issues.

Bee’ah is close to achieving its zero-waste goal, not just due to this technology, but also because of our integrated waste management strategies.

expanding the UAE’s renewable energy portfolio.

The project will ensure environmental protection by displacing almost 450,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions and saving 45 million m3 of natural gas, annually.

The facility will make Sharjah the first zero-waste city in the Middle East by 2021, meeting the sustainability ambitions of the region.

Are there any plans to build more waste-to-energy facilities in the nearfuture?

Following the establishment of this facility, we hope to establish similar plants across the UAE and the Middle East.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is also exploring the possibility of establishing a waste-to-energy project in the Northern Emirates, with support from Bee’ah and Masdar.

Do you think this technology, alone, is enough to attain zero-waste goal?

In line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme

We have tripled waste diversion rates in Sharjah in just 10 years, using an innovative waste collection system, comprising of smart bins and an eco-friendly fleet. Bee’ah makes use of cutting-edge technology like geo-tagged smart bin sensors and automated route optimization, as well as a fleet of more than 1200 ecofriendly, electric & CNG-powered vehicles. Bee’ah was also the first in the region to place an order for Tesla’s new fully electric Semi truck.

Bee’ah is the only company in the UAE to have advanced recycling facilities for specific types of waste. We are only sending non-recyclable waste to the waste-to-energy plant, and recovering as much as possible.

In addition to the region’s largest material recovery facility, Bee’ah has a tyre recycling facility, a metal recycling centre; an industrial waste water treatment facility, and a construction and demolition waste recycling facility. Therefore, we believe that the attainment of a zero-waste goal requires an integrated strategy, which starts from proper collection and segregation of waste streams; to processing, treatment and recovery of recyclable materials, and generating energy from nonrecyclable waste using waste-to-energy facilities.

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DEWA signs renewable Global Bioenergies achieves first production of energy deal for Museum isobutene from wheat straw polymers usable in lubricants, rubbers, of the Future cosmetics, solvents, plastics, or fuels applications. The intense R&D cooperation will continue until May 2021.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Dubai Future Foundation to design, construct, and operate a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to annually produce 4,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy required to operate the Museum of the Future, which is designed to meet LEED Platinum rating for green building standards.

The MoU was signed by HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA; and HE Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation; in the presence of senior representatives from both sides. Under the MoU, DEWA will work in an advisory role to provide solar energy technologies, smart grid integration, energy efficiency, water treatment through renewable technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning programs in energy, water and related areas. DEWA will also provide various research and development dissemination activities, targeting the academia and industry in these sectors, as well as provide the museum with advanced energy, water technologies and applications.

DEWA has made great advances in its use of state-of-the-art renewable and clean energy systems and smart networks. DEWA works to reduce the carbon footprint of Dubai and ensure sustainability of natural resources in addition to a brighter future for present and future generations.

Global Bioenergies announced that runs using wheat straw hydrolysate provided by its partner Clariant were successfully performed in its Leuna demo plant, leading to the production of cellulosic isobutene for the first time at this scale.

These runs were part of OPTISOCHEM, a project which started in June 2017 and was granted €9.8 million by the Bio Based Industry- Joint Undertaking (BBI-JU) as part of the H2020 program.

The aim of the project is to demonstrate a new value chain combining Global Bioenergies bio-Isobutene process with technologies developed by Clariant and INEOS, two of Europe’s leading chemical companies: currently underutilized residual wheat straw has been converted at demo scale into second generation renewable bioisobutene, and will eventually be transformed into oligomers and

OPTISOCHEM focuses on the demonstration of a new value chain, based on the combination of the technologies and know-how of the participants from four EU member states: •

•

• •

•

Conversion of straw into glucoseand xylose-rich hydrolysates by Clariant sunliquid® technology (Germany), Fermentation of the straw hydrolysates into bio-isobutene by Global Bioenergies (France and Germany), Conversion of bio-isobutene into oligomers and polymers by INEOS (Germany and France), Preliminary engineering of a hydrolysate-to-isobutene plant and overall integration with a straw-tohydrolysate plant, by TechnipFMC and IPSB (France), and Assessment of the sustainability and environmental benefits by the Energy Institute at the JKU Linz (Austria).

Yellow Door Energy enters the beauty industry with solar projects

Yellow Door Energy, a market-leading solar developer, has commissioned a solar plant for Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group (KOJ) in Dubai Investments Park (DIP). The solar plant will generate 7,100

megawatt hours of clean energy in the 20-year lease duration, equivalent to reducing 3,100 metric tons of carbon emissions or removing 680 vehicles from the road. As the solar lease provider, Yellow Door Energy invested in, designed, constructed, commissioned and will operate and maintain the solar plant for the duration of the lease. Solar leasing is gaining popularity among industrial building owners who want to reduce energy costs without any upfront investment or operational risk, while maintaining focus on their core business and enjoying the benefits of clean energy.

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Masdar proud of its 4GW renewable energy portfolio

Masdar, Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, has announced that its renewable energy portfolio has grown by 33 per cent over the past year, reaching 4 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy in operation and under development across 25 countries.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)’s Market Analysis Report: GCC 2019, nearly 7GW of renewable power generation capacity is planned to come online in the GCC by the early 2020. Targeting 50 per cent of its electricity to come from clean and renewable sources by 2050, the UAE is the MENA region’s front runner in adopting renewables into its energy mix, accounting for 68 per cent of the GCC’s total installed renewable energy capacity in 2018. Shua’a Energy 2 is the project company owned by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), Masdar and EDF Renewables responsible for developing Phase 3 of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai, which will be the largest single-site solar park in the world on completion, with a planned capacity of 5GW by 2030.

In addition to the solar tracking technology and cleaning robots, Phase 3 is introducing other technological innovations to optimize production and maximize return on investment.

The second stage will use half-cut solar cell technology, while the third stage will use bi-facial solar cell technology.

Both technologies deliver higher solar efficiencies compared to traditional solar modules.

Rise of renewables might change the world as we know it fifth of global energy production, are growing faster than any other source, the report said.

The rapid growth of renewable energy sources and the demise of fossil fuels are causing major changes in global politics, a special commission said. The shift “will alter the global distribution of power, relations between states, the risk of conflict, and the social, economic and environmental drivers of geopolitical instability,” said the commission set up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Solar, wind and other renewables, which currently make up around a

According to the commission chairman and former president of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar, the shift will likely cause China to eclipse the United States, place oildependent Gulf states at risk and help impoverished African nations achieve energy independence.

The report, entitled “A New World”, was launched at IRENA’s ninth general assembly in Abu Dhabi.The IRENA commission also warned that countries which heavily depend on fossil fuel exports would need to adapt to avoid “serious economic consequences”. But, it said, renewables will be a powerful vehicle of democratization because they make it possible to decentralize the energy supply.

Tunisia and Pakistan shifting to decarbonization by setting up two new plans Eni has begun the construction of two new solar photovoltaic projects in Pakistan and Tunisia. The Pakistan plant will be built in close proximity to the Bhit gas field at which Eni is the operator with a 40% stake, through its subsidiary Eni New Energy Pakistan. The Tunisia plant will be built at the ADAM oil concession, at which Eni is the operator with a 25% stake, through its subsidiary Eni Tunisia BV. The projects will support upstream operations by providing green energy with an off-grid set up.

Tunisia The ADAM photovoltaic project is situated in the Tataouine governorate, and has a peak capacity of 5MW. The energy produced will be used on-site, reducing gas consumption and avoiding around 6.500 tons/year of CO2 equivalent emissions. The solar plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

The project aims to establish a cuttingedge hybrid electricity production system with battery storage devices. Once again, Eni confirms its commitment in the decarbonization of Tunisia’s energy system.

Pakistan The photovoltaic project of Bhit, with a 10MW peak capacity, is expected to produce approximately 20GWh (Gigawatt hours) annually. The output energy will be used on site, reducing gas consumption and avoiding around 140.000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions in the next 10 years. The project, expected to be completed by October 2019, aims to integrate the new photovoltaic project with the existing power generating facility. Once operational, it will allow the shutdown of one the existing gas turbines and consequently to cut down on operational costs.

Fueling efficiency:

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How to increase profits and streamline operations in the energy sector

F

urther sharpening the need for energy companies to operate more efficiently is the greater pressure from governments, consumers and activists to reduce non-renewable energy consumption and humanity’s impact on the environment. This, in turn, places revenues, profits and margins under severe strain. With renewable energy uptake accelerating and innovations like electric vehicles gaining mainstream attention, traditional oil and gas businesses face an uncertain future.

Key to the energy sector’s efforts to protect margins and profitability will be the introduction of Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that enable energy businesses to gather data from anywhere, through connected sensors, and transfer that data across to cloud platforms for analysis by staff in control centres, often hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away.

Indeed, research conducted by Inmarsat Enterprise into the adoption of Industrial IoT in the energy sector found that for 60% of businesses, improving the efficiency with which they use resources is a key driver of IoT deployment and that 48% are aiming to use IoT to reduce the cost of business operations.

It has been a turbulent few years in the oil and gas sector. From crude oil hitting the dizzying heights of $110/barrel in 2014 before plunging to $30/ barrel in March 2016, producers have gone through While IoT is set to form the foundations an extended period of belt-tightening to weather for a more efficient digital future for the energy sector, it will also enable other the the storms, as margins and profitability take a implementation of other, complementary hammering. With the oil price set to remain volatile technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as augmented reality through 2019 due to overproduction in certain and real-time remote asset management, territories and slowing economic growth reducing to extend the life of assets and improve operational efficiency. demand, producers need to adjust their business models to accommodate this level of volatility.

Exploring with technology They must operate with much greater efficiency and optimise their processes to enable them to The exploration of oil and gas fields is increase their margins to pre-crash levels, without a both immensely complex and expensive.

Energy businesses looking for deposits significant boost from a higher crude price.

23 of oil and natural gas have to survey significant areas undersea or on land, often in remote regions, before making a decision on how and where to drill into these deposits to extract the natural resources most efficiently. Businesses need the most accurate data available to them so that when they are drilling at test sites, the chances of them hitting oil or gas will be much higher.

This is a major challenge for the energy industry. There has been a substantial decline in the discovery of new oil and gas fields in recent years, with the levels of new discoveries at the end of 2017 the lowest since the 1950s. A report on the energy industry from PwC suggests that it is simply getting harder to make large discoveries and that most prospective areas have already been explored. With energy businesses now having to focus their exploration efforts on areas that are more difficult to access, and therefore more expensive and more hazardous, there is immense pressure to find a new approach.

Connected IoT sensors embedded in the ground or on sea beds can provide drilling companies with detailed seismic data to help them build 3D maps of deposits with much greater speed and to accelerate the decision-making cycle and help energy businesses drill with vastly improved accuracy. It is very costly to move drilling equipment around, either on land or at sea, so if a company can use IoT to significantly increase the accuracy of its drilling, it can dramatically reduce its exploration costs. In an industry where costs and revenues are under growing pressure and exploration is becoming increasingly difficult, connected sensors gathering key data points could be critical to improving margins and profitability.

IoT technology can also support much greater levels of automation at extraction facilities, with manual tasks that were previously carried out by staff on site now able to be controlled and monitored remotely through connected technology.

This reduces the necessary staffing levels on site and can further help energy businesses to maintain their profitability and margins, with lower staffing costs putting less pressure on the bottom line.

Key to the energy sector’s efforts to protect margins and profitability will be Industrial IoT technologies Extracting value with remote maintenance and guidance A significant cost to businesses extracting oil and gas, particularly in the remote regions where these operations are typically based, is the cost of maintenance. Sending large numbers of staff to perform basic manual maintenance tasks can be both costly and inefficient.

However, efforts to standardize wireless networks over the last decade have enabled operators to implement remote monitoring and maintenance strategies that can help avoid costly shutdowns and improve the efficiency of maintenance operations, with remote monitoring technology that takes data readings at set intervals and transfers this data back to head offices. Specialised companies like IEC Telecom Group have a range of solutions for remote monitoring and oil rig management for businesses. Their solutions significantly improve data visibility, allowing staff to constantly monitor machinery and other vital data and take action when necessary. This is particularly important on oil and gas rigs in remote areas, where a fault with mission-critical machinery could halt production and cost a business millions of dollars.

Another positive benefit of remote monitoring is that it enables predictive maintenance so that rather than send staff out every three months to

inspect machinery, they can optimise maintenance schedules and improve the efficiency of operations. This efficiency will be critical to enabling energy businesses to improve the margins they can make at a consistently lower oil price.

While remote monitoring and asset management can handle a wide variety of issues on rigs, human presence is often the calming hand and the expert instruction when disaster strikes. With Remote Guidance, no matter how remote the location, or tough the challenge— help is at hand. Solutions with Augmented Reality (AR) enable offsite experts to guide the hands and see through the eyes of onsite technicians. This unique, hands-overlay technology lets the expert show, not tell, what to do—in real time, with a shared view and pinpoint accuracy. With no need for complex verbal instructions, Remote Guidance solutions with AR gives service teams the power of presence, anywhere, any time. A recent feasibility study on AR by the Service Council reported that 72% of service organisations are already using or evaluating AR right now.

Advanced remote maintenance enables field service providers to see through the eyes of experts and service technicians based in control centres, eliminating the cost of transporting these experts to site, resolving issues faster at the same time.

A more efficient future The volatility in the oil price and a changing global market is forcing the energy industry to adapt to a fundamentally different landscape. Having come through an exceptionally lean period without returning to previous highs, energy businesses across the world are looking to new ways of working to bolster revenues and margins and deliver value to shareholders. IoT will play a critical role in enabling the future of the energy industry, improving efficiency by automating key manual processes, ensuring vastly improved data visibility over critical assets and supporting more informed, faster decision-making.

By Gary Bray, Director of Energy at Inmarsat Enterprise and Nabil Ben Soussia, Managing Director, IEC Telecom Middle East

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How Europe is coping with renewable energy targets consequences of climate change.

In 2015 the Netherlands was one of the first countries to rule on a climate case, with a court ordering the state to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020.

France: Nuclear preference Inspired by the Dutch decision, four environmental NGOs in March sued the French government for failing to uphold its commitments on fighting climate change.

The European Union’s use of renewable energy, such as hydropower, wind and solar, reached 17.5 % in 2017, keeping it on track for a target of 20% by 2020. Each member state has its own renewable energy goal, based on its situation and potential, ranging from 10 to 49 percent.

W

hile 11 countries in the bloc have already surpassed their targets, others are lagging behind, according to EU statistics authority Eurostat.

With the target for 2030 at 32 percent, Eurostat says, “While the EU as a whole is on course to meet its 2020 targets, some member states will need to make additional efforts to meet their obligations.”

Sweden: Champion of Europe Europe’s renewable energy leaders are Nordic countries: Sweden, Finland and Denmark.Since 2012 more than half of the total energy consumed in Sweden has come from renewable sources, according to the International Energy Agency.This is due in large part to hydroelectric power, which provides

more than 40 percent of the country’s electricity output. Swedes heat themselves mainly with biofuels.

Denmark - a small, flat country long dependent on energy imports - now gets 43 percent of its electricity from wind power after investment starting in the late 1970s when it began phasing out coal plants.

The Netherlands: Lagging behind Luxembourg and the Netherlands are the EU countries with the lowest consumption of renewables, reaching 6.4 percent and 6.6 percent respectively.Despite its investment in offshore wind farms, the Netherlands is the furthest from reaching its targets. Yet, with a part of the country lying below sea level, it is particularly vulnerable to the

In 2017 France reached 16.3 percent of energy consumption from renewables, compared to its 23 percent target for 2020.Wood and hydropower are the main sources of green energy in France, ahead of biofuels. France has long preferred investment in nuclear power, from which it gets more than 70 percent of its electricity.

The government has committed to closing 14 nuclear reactors by 2035 and shutting down four still-active coal power plants by 2022, on condition that it can guarantee secure electricity supplies.

Germany: Between coal and wind Germany’s renewable energy, which comes mainly from wind and solar power, reached just 15.5 percent in 2017, while its 2020 objective is set at 18 percent.

Coal remains the cornerstone of its energy policy, in part due to the government’s decision in 2011 to shut down all nuclear plants by 2022.

Coal accounts for 37 percent of Germany’s electricity production and more than 30 percent of its heating.

Europe’s biggest economy intends to progressively phase out coal in order to respect its commitment to reducing polluting emissions. A new framework law on protecting the climate is expected in 2019

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$1bn disbursed on climate lobbying by energy giants

The five largest publicly listed oil and gas majors have spent $1 billion since the 2015 Paris climate deal on public relations or lobbying that is “overwhelmingly in conflict” with the landmark accord’s goals, a watchdog said.Despite outwardly committing to support the Paris agreement and its aim to limit global temperature rises, ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP and Total spend a total of $200 million a year on efforts “to operate and expand fossil fuel operations,” according to InfluenceMap, a pro-transparency monitor.Two of the companies - Shell and Chevron - said they rejected the watchdog’s findings. As planetwarming greenhouse gas emissions hit their highest levels in human history in 2018, the five companies racked up total profits of $55 billion. At the same time, the International Panel on Climate Change - composed of the world’s leading climate scientists - issued a call for a radical drawdown in fossil fuel use in order to hit the 1.5C (2.7 Fahrenheit) cap laid out in the Paris accord.

InfluenceMap looked at accounts, lobbying registers and communications releases since 2015, and alleged a large gap between the climate commitments companies make and the action they take. It added that of the more than $110 billion the five had earmarked for capital investment in 2019, just $3.6bn was given over to low-carbon schemes.The report said Exxon alone spent $56 million a year on “climate branding” and $41 million annually on lobbying efforts.

Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala seeks expanding investments in Uzbekistan renewables and the oil & gas sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy.

Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment and development fund, has exchanged a set of strategic agreements with the Republic of Uzbekistan, in which future partnerships can be explored across three key strategic sectors. This will build on the existing strategic Government-to-Government relationship between the Republic and the United Arab Emirates, seeking to support efforts to drive efficiency and expansion in the Uzbek economy. Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CEO and Managing Director, Mubadala Investment Company and Mr. Sardor Umurzakov, Minister of Investments and Foreign trade to the republic of Uzbekistan concluded an agreement focused on three sectors: the conventional power generation,

In oil and gas, Mubadala, via its international operating company, Mubadala Petroleum, has reached an agreement to explore potential partnership and investment opportunities in production enhancement across certain oil and gas fields in the Republic, together with potential opportunities in the country’s downstream sector, including refining and petrochemicals.

Official documents were also exchanged pertaining to agreements between Mubadala’s Abu Dhabi Power Corporation (Masdar), JSC Uzbekenergo and the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade to pursue renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan.With Mubadala’s track record in development and investment, the company’s global networks and partnerships, together with its experience in structuring and financing investments, will see a range of opportunities for value creation and continued partnership.

Oman invests in construction of a $4bn oil refinery in Sri Lanka addition of the oil refinery and storage complex.

Sri Lanka began construction of a nearly $4 billion oil refinery it hopes will revive foreign interest in its shipping facilities after Beijing’s takeover of a nearby port spooked international investors. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Hambantota, a district in Sri Lanka’s south which lies on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, would become a global investment hub with the

The $3.85 billion project is the single largest foreign investment in Sri Lanka’s history. It is jointly funded by Oman and Singapore-registered Silver Park International, a company owned by an Indian business family.

The oil storage tanks are expected to be completed within two years while the refinery is due to be up and running by 2023. Once fully operational the refinery - the second in Sri Lanka - is to export nine million tons of petroleum products annually.

The Indian Ocean island nation does not have oil of its own. It refines imported crude, but the existing refinery is unable to meet demand.

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Fitch and Moody’s reveals world biggest corporate profit of 2018 2018 - far higher than the combined net earnings of the five international oil majors - and generated $359.9 billion in revenues.

Fitch Ratings, which also saw the accounts, said Aramco reported $224 billion in earnings before tax and depreciation, while maintaining low debt levels.

Oil giant Saudi Aramco revealed it made the world’s biggest corporate profit last year, opening its secretive accounts for the first time as it prepares to raise funds from investors.

International ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s got rare access to Aramco’s accounts which show the firm posting billions in profits.

It comes as Aramco prepares to sell bonds on the international market to help finance the purchase of a 70-percent stake in Saudi petrochemical behemoth SABIC for $69.1 billion, effectively merging the kingdom’s two largest companies.

Moody’s Investors Service said Aramco posted a net profit of $111.1 billion in

However, both Fitch and Moody’s gave state-owned Aramco a credit rating of just A+ and A1 respectively, with a stable outlook, since the majority of its revenue is taken by the government to finance its ever-increasing spending.

Based on its finances, massive hydrocarbon reserves and low production cost, its stand-alone rating would have been a top AA+ on an equal footing with international oil companies, Fitch said.

Saudi-led consortium wins $1.2bn bid to build gas pipeline in Bulgaria billion euros ($1.2 billion), which Bulgartransgaz said was the lowest bid in the public tender.

The other bidder - a consortium of Italy’s Bonatti, Germany’s Max Streicher and Luxembourg-based Completions Development - offered a price more than the 1.4 billion euros the government was ready to spend on the project.

Bulgaria’s state gas network operator Bulgartransgaz chose a Saudi-led consortium to build a new pipeline through the countr y intended to hook up to Gazprom’s TurkStream project.

The consortium between Saudi Arabia’s Arkad Engineering and a joint venture including Switzerland’s

ABB “had offered the most economically advantageous tender” for the 474-kilometre (294-mile) pipeline to run from Bulgaria’s southeastern border with Turkey to its western border with Serbia, Bulgartransgaz said in a statement.

The group offered to complete the pipeline within 20 months for 1.1

Last November Bulgartransgaz announced plans to build the link in the hope of persuading Russian gas giant Gazprom to consider a link to its TurkStream pipeline through Bulgarian territory.

Bulgaria, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas for its domestic needs, will lose hefty transit fees when TurkStream becomes operational at the end of this year and Gazprom stops its gas deliveries to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia via Bulgaria in 2020.

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Chasing the bus of

global warming Humanity is falling further behind in the race against climate change, with the gap between greenhouse gas emissions and levels needed to achieve the Paris climate treaty temperature goals continuing to widen, the UN said.

W

ith only a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has seen a crescendo of deadly wildfires, heatwaves and hurricanes.

On current trends, temperatures are on track to rise roughly 4C by the century’s end, a scenario that would tear at the fabric of civilization, scientists say.

To cap global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), national carbon-cutting pledges annexed to the 2015 Paris Agreement must collectively triple by 2030, according to the UN Environment Program’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap report.

To hold the rise in Earth’s temperature to 1.5C above the preindustrial benchmark,

such efforts would have to increase fivefold.

“The emissions gap is much bigger than last year,” said UNEP’s Philip Drost, one of several coordinators for the annual report’s ninth edition. One obvious reason was a spike last year in the quantity of carbon dioxide, methane and other planet-warming gases escaping

29 into the atmosphere. This trend is set to continue in 2018, which saw a jump in CO2 emissions from the energy sector, according to the International Energy Agency, as well as an increase in the atmospheric concentration of CO2.

But the gap between where we are and where we need to be also grew on paper: new calculations by the UN’s top science panel sharply reduce the realworld potential for drawing CO2 out of the air, whether by planting more trees or capturing and storing CO2 emitted by power plants.

‘Chasing the bus’ More broadly, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report released last month concluded that 2C of warming - once seen as a safety guardrail - would in fact usher in a maelstrom of deadly extreme weather.

Taken together, rising emissions and revised projections on CO2 removal have widened the emissions gap by 15 percent for a 2C world, and by

nearly 70 percent for the 1.5C target, according to the new report.

The news comes despite breakneck growth in solar and wind power, gains in energy efficiency, and climate action by business and local governments, said Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the Washington DC-based World Resources Institute.

“We are chasing a bus” - climate change – “and we are going faster and faster, setting new world records,” he said by phone. “But the bus is accelerating even faster, and the gap is increasing.”

Momentum is most lacking at the national level, the report suggested.

“Governments really need to look at their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and increase their ambition,” said Drost.

Boosting carbon-cutting efforts is high on the agenda at UN climate talks starting next week in Katowice, though host country Poland has let it be known that its top priority is finalizing the “rulebook” for the Paris Agreement, which enters into force in 2020.

Carbon budget

Temperatures are on track to rise roughly 4C by the century’s end

Annual emissions in 2030 will need to stay under 40 billion tons of CO2

carbon humanity can emit into the atmosphere, known as the “carbon budget”, without breaching the 2C or 1.5C ceiling.

But upping ambition will be a tall order given that most major economies are not even on track to achieve their current pledges.

To cap global warming at 2C, annual emissions in 2030 will need to stay under 40 billion tons of CO2 or its equivalent (GtCO2e).

The United States, the world’s second biggest carbon emitter, will miss its targets, as will Australia, Canada and South Korea, the UN report said. The European Union and South Africa will also fall short.

In 2017, total greenhouse gas emissions hit 53.5 GtCO2e. If the target is 1.5C, the gap becomes a chasm: by 2030, carbon emissions must be lowered to no more than 24 billion tons per year, nearly one-anda-half-times lower than they would be even if Paris promises are kept.

Top emitters China and Russia are both on track, but mostly because their goals were so modest to begin with, as are Brazil, Japan and Turkey.

It is uncertain whether Indonesia and Mexico will hit their target.

The Emissions Gap report’s projections are based on estimates of how much

Written and reviewed by 100 climate scientists and experts, the annual, 100page analysis tracks progress towards achieving the Paris treaty goals.

Under Donald Trump, the United States has abandoned its greenhouse gas goals and vowed to quit the Paris Agreement.

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OPEC calls for a meeting for oil production cuts’ assessment

OPEC nations and allied oil producers met in Azerbaijan to review a strategy of production cutbacks that has propped up crude prices. The Saudi-dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia agreed in 2016 to create a loose alliance of 24 oilproducing nations to limit production in the face of tumbling prices.The so-called OPEC+ alliance has endured, with regular meetings and agreements to extend production limits, helping oil prices rise from around $40 per barrel in 2016 to an average of $70 per barrel last year.

The meeting in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku brings together the group’s monitoring committee to review the last extension, which saw OPEC+ nations agree to cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from January to June. Another meeting

is due in Vienna next month to consider extending the accord.

prices getting too high. OPEC, please relax and take it easy.”

Russian news agencies quoted Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying ahead of the meeting that Moscow was on track to meet its reduction target He suggested the next OPEC+ meeting should take place in May instead of April, saying time was needed to understand the impact of US sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela. “It is hard today to plan your activities for months ahead, because the volatility is high because of the sanctions. We have to take these uncertainties into account in making decisions on the market,” Interfax quoted Novak.

Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih was defiant in response, saying at the time that OPEC was pursuing a measured response and that he was leaning towards extending production cuts in the second half of 2019 In Baku ahead of the talks, Falih said that OPEC+ countries were “close to implementing 90 percent” of the latest reduction agreement.The Azerbaijan meeting was also looking at expanding membership of the OPEC+ group, with Falih saying Iraq, Kazakhstan and Nigeria had been OPEC+ invited to participate.The alliance has breathed fresh life into OPEC and brought Russia new influence as an arbiter on the oil market.Host Azerbaijan is one of the alliance’s non-OPEC members and analysts said the ex-Soviet republic has used its participation to court investment in its oil sector. After years of growth, Azerbaijan’s oil and gas production is stabilizing.Analysts at S&P Global Platts said the country is forging closer ties with Riyadh and in recent weeks hosted several Saudi delegations.Azerbaijan “needs to attract new investment if it is to successfully replace current reserves and maintain production volumes over the next few decades,” they said.

Impact of sanctions President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a nuclear accord with Iran in May last year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. From April 28, US companies and citizens will be barred from dealing in Venezuelan crude, as Washington intensifies measures against President Nicolas Maduro’s government But Trump has also urged OPEC to take steps to lower prices, saying in a tweet last month, “Oil

Cuba seeks Qatar and Algeria’s helping hand According to the foreign ministry, Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca was in Qatar and then headed to Algeria. In Doha, Malmierca met with prime minister and interior minister, Abdullah bin Nasser Khalifa al Thani, as well as with finance and other authorities.

With top ally Venezuela in crisis, Cuba is moving to cover its oil needs elsewhere, seeking possible alternative supplies in Qatar and Algeria, officials said.

Since the 2000s, Venezuela has provided oil and economic support to the Americas’ only Communist regime, while Havana has sent Caracas thousands of doctors, sports coaches and military advisers.

With Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro facing a serious crisis, “there is real concern (in Cuba)

about the loss of earnings,” a diplomat recently commented after meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

The loss of Venezuelan oil would weaken a Cuban economy that is already performing poorly, with annual growth of only about one percent and shortages of food.

With a 40 percent drop in Venezuelan oil shipments in recent years, the island “has begun to look for alternative oil suppliers: Russia, Iran and other countries,” said Paul Webster Hare, a former British ambassador who has lived in Cuba and Venezuela.

April 2019 Agenda

22- 24 May 2019 Solar India/5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo As part of the 5th Smart Cities India 2019 expo, India has dedicated a special part of its exhibition to Solar Energy as it is set to become one of the largest solar hubs globally in the coming years. Visit this expo and find out more about battery storage, floating solar, ground mounted solar, and many more technologies.

9-12 September 2019 24th World Energy Congress Under the theme Energy for Prosperity, the 24th edition of the World Energy Congress will cover all aspects of the energy agenda, from innovations to new energy strategies across the globe.

Place: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Place: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India

11 - 14 November 2019 ADIPEC Abu Dhabi is organizing its annual large international exhibition, gathering under one roof over hundreds of Ministers, Energy influencers and leaders in this sector.

It’s your opportunity discover thousands of products and services displayed, network, and exchange knowledge and international perspectives.

21-23 October 2019 WETEX Under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, DEWA is organizing for another year the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX). Join us and discover the latest smart and innovative solutions and services in the region.

Place: Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre

Place: Abu Dhabi National exhibition center, Abu Dhabi, UAE

10 December 2019 13-16 January 2020 WFES Join us at the region’s leading B2B sustainability event that covers everything from disruptive technologies to future cities. WFES (World Future Energy Summit) will gather more than 800 exhibiting companies from over 40 countries under one roof, connecting business and innovation in energy, clean technology and efficiency for a sustainable future.

Place: ADNEC, Abu Dhabi

Telecom Review Leaders’ Summit The 13th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders’ Summitwill be held in Dubai to shed light on the industry’s latest ICT trends through interesting panels and keynotes that will be given by prominent industry leaders.

Place: Dubai, UAE

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