MW & H2O Magazine March 2012 by H2O Megawhat

march2012

THE INTERMITTENT CHALLENGE MAKING SENSE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY INTEGRATION, SMART METERS AND SMART GRIDS

HEAD LINES • ABU DHABI’S AL SAAD WWTP STARTS OPERATION • WIND POWER SUPPLIES 6.3% OF THE EU’S ELECTRICITY

EXCLUSIVE!

H.E. SAEED MOHAMMED AL TAYER, VICE CHAIRMAN OF THE DUBAI SUPREME COUNCIL OF ENERGY AND MD & CEO OF DEWA

ON THE RECORD DR JAN MROSIK, CEO, SIEMENS SMART GRID

ENERGY WORLD

MAXINE GHAVI, GROUP SENIOR VP & HEAD OF SOLAR INDUSTRY SECTOR, ABB

contents march2012 4/ Editor's Letter

NEWS 8/ Round up 12/ In the region 20/ At large 24/ Industry notes The tipping point Abu Dhabi unveils new utility bill Wired for growth

32/ Short Take Hiroyuki Yamamura, CEO and President, Toray Membrane Europe

51/Maintenance Primer Keeping your control valves in good health

SECTOR REPORT 57/Mega trends The MENA desalination scenario in 2050

ENERGYWORLD

CONTENTS

6/ The Metre

TOOL KIT

59/Silver lining to the PV crisis 62/The Integration Factor -2

ELECTRICAL REVIEW 68/ Insulation or high

ON THE RECORD pot test 34/ GridGuru Dr Jan Mrosik, CEO, Siemens Smart Grid

70/Analysing dissipation factor test results

SOLAR TALK 36/ Straddling the solar value chain Maxine Ghavi, Group Senior VP and Head of Solar Industry Sector, ABB

38/ Insight Fuel from market waste Fact or fiction: Supernova energy Tool to appraise solar PV systems

SPECIAL REPORTS

73 / MEE 2012 76/ GIL 2012: MIDDLE EAST

ADVERTORIALS 22/JUMO

POWER PLAY 26/HUBER

45/ Powers of construction 48/ Cooling the summer peak load

63/GRP 65/NUPLAS

40/COVER STORY

The Intermittent Challenge Making sense of smart meters, smart grids and renewable energy integration, in two parts • Metering blues • Smart meters: The ground reality

PLUS

58/ Marketplace 80/ Tenders & Contracts 85/ Classifieds 86/ Events Watch

March2012

® ®

EDITOR

ANOOP K MENON

Management Publisher Dominic De Sousa

Associate Publisher Liam Williams • liam@cpidubai.com

Chief Operations Officer

Editorial Director Melanie Mingas • melanie@cpidubai.com

Editor Anoop K Menon • anoop@cpi-industry.com

Business Development Director Vedran Dedic • vedran@cpi-industry.com +971 55 8644831

Marketing and PR Executive Carole McCarthy • carolem@cpidubai.com

Design Rebecca Teece • rebecca@cpidubai.com

Digital Services Manager IT Department Troy Maagma • troy@cpidubai.com

Web Developer Joel Azcuna • joel@cpidubai.com

Kanika Saxena Director - North America 25 Kingsbridge Garden Cir. Suite 919 Mississauga, ON. Canada L5R 4B1 kanika@cpi-industry.com tel/fax: + 1 905 890 5031

USA and Canada

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industry thought leadership brands into a monthly edition that provides an unbeatable, 360 degree perspective of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region's utility and energy sectors. You can read the digital version of the print edition at:

www.megawhatme.com I www.h2ome.net

world’s total energy consumption and 22% of total GHG emissions. In September last year, Qatar announced that in order to achieve food security, it is going to turn 111,200 acres of Qatari land into farms. The water strategy outlined under Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) emphasises desalination as the source of agricultural water. QNFSP’s website also mentions that the programme will be utilising a variety of clean energy sources and carbon reduction schemes to enable sustainable and environmentallyfriendly operation. It was the 20072008 global food price crisis which pushed the Gulf countries, including Qatar, to act to secure their food supply. However, as Dr Mari Luomi, a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University's Centre for International and Regional Studies in Doha points out (Food Security in the GCC, Current Intelligence, November 2011), while the Gulf countries have the energy resources to desalinate water for municipal use, but with fast growing populations, it would be self-defeating to argue that a significant increase in food self-sufficiency is realistic. Moreover, FAO has also classified GCC countries as suffering from absolute water scarcity. So is selfsufficiency in food via local agriculture an ‘energy smart’ model for the gulf?

ater-food-energy nexus – I heard these words for the first time at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi in January this year. Come February, at the Marsh National Oil Companies conference in Dubai, Peter Zaffino, President and CEO, Marsh referred to the nexus in explicit terms in his keynote address. While the waterenergy nexus theme is now a rising presence in the conference circuit, the food element became a part of the nexus, so to speak, after the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) released its ‘Energy Smart Food for People and Climate’ report during the UN Conference on Climate Change in Durban in December last year. According to the report, high and fluctuating prices of fossil fuels and doubts regarding their future availability mean that agri-food systems need to shift to an ‘energysmart’ model. Becoming energysmart will require a transformation along the food chain involving higher energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy within food systems and improved access to modern and sustainable forms of energy. FAO also claims that climate benefits will accrue through the achievement of energy and food security. Currently, the food sector accounts for around 30% of the

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CONTENTS editorsnote

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NEWS innumbers

themetre Is the global cumulative installed capacity for thermal energy for 2020 forecasted by GlobalData in its new report ‘Gas Turbines for Thermal Power - Global Market Size, Average Pricing, Equipment Market Share and Competitive Landscape Analysis to 2020.’ The same in 2000 was 2.5 million MW which increased to 3.7 million MW in 2009, representing a CAGR of 3.9% over the period. Future capacity addition is also expected to follow the same trend.

Million utility customers worldwide will use social media to engage with their utilities by 2017, predicts Pike Research in its new report on the topic. According to the cleantech market intelligence firm, while some utility managers remain wary of the potential risk involved with social media, the fact is conversations are already taking place, beyond the utility’s control, where sometimes false or misleading information can do harm to the brand. So it is in the utility’s own best interest to engage with customers in social channels and at least have a chance to steer the conversation.

624

26.5 Is the total solar power capacity installed across the globe in 2011. According to organisers of Intersolar Europe, in Germany alone, around 7.5 GW of new photovoltaic (PV) capacity was added, exceeding the previous record year of 2010. Berlin-based German Solar Industry Association estimates solar power production to rise by a further 70% in the next four years alone. With 18 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power generated during the year, 2011 also saw PV conquer a larger share of the German energy production market against hydropower for the first time.

March2012

SR18 Billion

Is the total budget allocated by Saudi Arabia's government for developing renewable energy in the kingdom over a period of 10 years. Speaking to Okaz/Saudi Gazette last month, Prince Turki Bin Saud Bin Muhammad Al Saud, Deputy Chairman of the Research Institute at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) explained that the budget is split into two parts, with SR8 billion allocated for the first five years and SR10 billion for the next five years.

$800

Value of the power project awarded to an international consortium led by Korea Electric Power Co (KEPCO) in Jordan. The consortium, which includes Japan's Mitsubishi and Finland's Wartsila, will build a 600 MW power plant for Jordan's National Electric Power. The project is expected to become operational by 2014, with the consortium operating the plant for 25 years post-completion. KEPCO will hold a 60% stake in the project, with Mitsubishi having 35% and Wartsila five per cent. KEPCO would also invest about $120 million in the project.

Million

2.6

m3/day of desalination capacity is being targeted by the Chinese government by 2015, with the lower side target being 2.2 million m3/day, reports Xinhua, quoting the General Office of the State Council, China's cabinet. Desalinated seawater will contribute to over half of newlyadded water supply in islands and about 15% of water supply in coastal areas lacking fresh water. By 2015, China will have 20 cities using desalinated seawater.

roundup NEWS inbrief

ABB wins orders worth $250-mn from SEC

GE Flexeﬃciency 50 combined cycle power plant

GE brings its best to POWER-GEN Middle East

E showcased a wide range of advanced energy technologies at POWER-GEN Middle East 2012 in Doha under the banner of ‘Cleaner, Flexible, More Efficient.’ Technology highlights at the GE booth included the new FlexEfficiency 50 combined cycle power plant that integrates renewable energy with natural gas to produce cleaner, more affordable and reliable power; power plant lifecycle solutions, and GE’s newest innovation - the GE TS1000 coalescer, a gas turbine filtration product that delivers improved plant performance and lower maintenance costs to Middle East customers operating power generation facilities in harsh environments. Also, nine GE experts shared their insights and experience on technology advancements in power generation solutions in the conference segment.

Eversheds' Doha oﬃce bags Kahramaa contract

he Doha office of international law firm Eversheds will advise Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) in relation to the latter’s strategies for the improvement and expansion of electricity and water supply in Qatar. Kahramaa is not only authorised by the Qatari government to establish and operate water and power production facilities, but to license and regulate them as well. The corporation’s model of purchasing power and water produced by independent suppliers is, currently, at the heart of its water and power supply strategies. Eversheds will serve as Kahramaa’s sole legal advisor and advise the organisation on implementing and developing its strategies for additional and improved capacity for power and water and meet the demands of growth through sustainable practice. The firm will be working in consortium with consulting engineering company Energoprojekt ENTEL and professional services firm PwC. Doha based Suzannah Newboult will lead the Eversheds team from Qatar, with additional support from Tim Armsby, Partner in Eversheds’ Abu Dhabi projects team.

March2012

ABB has won orders worth $250 million from the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to construct new substations and reinforce existing ones. One of the new gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) substations will be located south-west of Al-Hassa in the eastern region and will facilitate the transmission of an additional 2,000 MW from a new gas-fired IPP being built next to SEC’s existing Qurayyah power station. Six other new distribution substations and the three to be upgraded will be located in Riyadh and other cities in the central region. ABB will design, supply, install and commission the new substations including the supply of key equipment such as GIS, transformers, shunt reactors and capacitor banks. ABB will also deliver SCADA and automation, control, protection and communication equipment compliant with IEC 61850 to enable remote monitoring and control of power assets located at multiple sites.

Europe’s largest Web shop for PV products is operated by ANTARIS

ANTARIS SOLAR enters UAE and Qatar

avarian photovoltaic (PV) wholesaler and project developer ANTARIS SOLAR has opened trading offices in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. From its new locations, the company will offer its complete range of PV technology, including ANTARIS SOLAR’s own mono and polycrystalline module series. ANTARIS SOLAR combines wholesale services with largescale turnkey projects, ranging from project development and planning to project implementation. The corporate group also operates Europe’s largest Web shop for PV products (www.fotovoltaikshop.net). The company has foreign subsidiaries in Switzerland, Czech Republic, Italy, France, the UK and the US.

roundup NEWS inbrief

ENERCON expands to the Middle East

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Aﬀairs and Environment Richard Lochhead

Oﬃcial launch of Water Resources Msc Programme

eriot-Watt University’s Dubai campus officially launched its Water Resources Msc Programme last month in the presence of Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment Richard Lochhead MSP. The programme builds on the success of HeriotWatt’s UK-based programme, providing a comprehensive overview of sustainable water resource issues and covering varied topics ranging from water and wastewater treatment to international water law. Professor Ammar Kaka, vice-principal of Heriot-Watt University and Head of Dubai Campus, said: “This is a significant addition to the Dubai Campus’ School of the Built Environment, especially as the need for efficient and forward thinking water resource management in the region continues to grow, with considerable career opportunities for unique and compelling research projects.”

Honeywell invests in new Dubai facility

oneywell has set up a new facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to strengthen customer support in the Middle East for its Process Solutions and Scanning & Mobility businesses. The Dubai office is Honeywell Process Solutions’ (HPS) second office in the UAE after Abu Dhabi and will provide customers with a new state-of-the-art customer training facility and access to a wider range of technical resources and expertise through a Technical Assistance Centre, Automation College and Remote Support Centre. “Over the past three years we have seen a tremendous amount of growth in the Middle East and it has become necessary to further expand our physical presence here to keep up the momentum,” explained Norm Gilsdorf, President of Honeywell Process Solutions.

uclear engineering firm ENERCON has announced the setting up its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi. The Georgia, US-headquartered ENERCON is a highly respected engineering, nuclear licensing, environmental, technical and management services firm. "Our New Plant Services Division has opened offices in Europe and the Middle East to respond to the growing demand for superior services in engineering, licensing, operations and outage support," said John Richardson, President, ENERCON. "The opening of these two offices focuses resources on developing business in new nuclear power markets in Europe, especially Central Europe, and the Middle East, where a number of countries are looking to develop new nuclear power programs, or expand their existing nuclear power programs in light of the Fukushima accident. Many countries recognise that nuclear power is an essential element in improving energy security and in reducing carbon emissions that can contribute to global warming."

Megger made it to the shortlist of firstever MEE Awards

Megger opens Dubai oﬃce

ast month, Megger organised an office opening get-together in Dubai Internet City (DIC) for their distributors across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The DIC office, which will serve as the company’s regional headquarters, was formally inaugurated by Megger’s Managing Director Andrew Boughtwood. In the past five years, Megger has rapidly scaled up its presence and workforce in the region, growing from one to 11 team members. Nick Parton, who has been responsible for the recent development and expansion of Megger in the Middle East, opened the Bahrain office three years ago and will be the main contact at the DIC office. Megger also celebrated the nomination of its new Delta 4000, part of the Tan Delta range, in the ‘Innovative Product of the Year’ category at the first ever Middle East Electricity (MEE) Awards.

March2012

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intheregion ! E V I S U L EXC

capacity by 18.4% to 8,718 MW and desalination capacity by 21.2% to 400 million gallons per day (MIGD). The DEWA chief expects water and power demand to grow in 2012. He said, “It was five per cent in the first quarter of this year, but I don’t want to take this as the annual growth because we are also working to bring down the overall demand.” Commenting on Dubai’s renewable energy targets in the context of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Al Tayer hinted at the possibility of increasing renewable energy’s share of the 2030 energy mix targeted by Dubai. Under Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, the emirate is looking to renewable energy to supply one per cent of its total energy needs by 2020 and five per cent by 2030. “The five per cent target could be revised in the future because PV prices are falling, which reduces the investment costs,” said the DEWA chief.

Largest WETEX ever H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD & CEO of DEWA

Dubai eyes aquifer storage for water security Consultancy contract to be awarded soon; discussions on for a water pipeline connection between Abu Dhabi and Dubai

he Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) is poised to select a consultant for studying the potential for aquifer recharge in the emirate. This was confirmed by H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and MD & CEO of DEWA during an exclusive interview at the sidelines of a press conference on the forthcoming Water, Energy, and Environment Exhibition 2012 (WETEX). In June 2011, DEWA had launched a tender for conducting geological and hydro-geological studies for a new well field in order to identify fresh water aquifers and recommend best practices for ground water management. “We are putting the terms of reference to identify an area where we can inject water into the ground to build up underground water reserves,” said H.E Al Tayer. “We haven’t decided whether to inject treated water or desalinated water. We are also in discussions to connect Dubai and Abu Dhabi through a water pipeline at two places - at the Hassyan border area and the Al Maddam area on the Dubai Hatta Road.” He assured that Dubai has sufficient water reserve capacity for the next six years. In 2011, DEWA increased its installed power generation

Meanwhile, all preparations have been completed for the 14th edition of WETEX, the largest so far in terms of number of participants, categories and activities. During the press conference, H.E. Al Tayer announced that the exhibition covers a total area of 33,000 square metres, an increase of 10,000 square metres from 2011. The number of exhibitors, local and international, currently stands at 1,000 from over 31 countries, while the number of visitors is expected to exceed 12,000. Highlights for 2012 include a new section called Fossil Fuels focussing on the oil and gas technology sector, and sections on renewable and nuclear energy. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai had launched in January this year a long-term national initiative to build a green economy in the UAE under the theme ‘Green Economy for Sustainable Development.’ A key objective of this initiative is to transform the UAE into a hub for exporting and reexporting green products and technologies while building a sustainable environment that supports long-term economic growth. To achieve this initiative, DEWA has organised SmarTech for the second year running as a concurrent event with WETEX. WETEX 2012 is being held under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of DEWA, and is organised by DEWA under the umbrella of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. Al Tayer also announced that next year’s WETEX will be held simultaneously with Dubai Global Energy Forum (DGEF) 2013.

By Anoop K Menon

March2012

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intheregion NEWS MENA

Al Dur IWPP in Bahrain commences operation

The project incorporates the largest Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in operation in the Middle East.

ahrain’s largest independent water and power plant achieved full commercial operation last month. The Al Dur Power and Water Company (Al Dur) produces 1,234 MW of power and 48 MIGD of water. Bahrain's Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) is the sole off-taker of the plant output as stipulated in the 25year Power and Water Purchase Agreement. The key stakeholders in the project include IPR-GDF SUEZ Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Gulf Investment Corporation, the Social Insurance Organisation, Capital Management House, Bahrain Islamic Bank, First Energy Bank and Bunyah, an Instrata Capital managed fund. Al Dur was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries and uses GE turbines for the two power blocks. The plant utilises Reverse Osmosis (RO) provided by Degrémont (GDF SUEZ group). At present, Al Dur is the largest Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant in the Middle East. Shankar Krishnamoorthy, President and CEO of IPRGDF SUEZ META said: "We are pleased to announce the formal commencement of operations of the Al Dur power and water plant in Bahrain, which is an integral component of the power and water infrastructure of Bahrain. The successful launch of operations is due to the close alignment and cooperation of all our project partners and we want to thank them for that." Hisham Al Razzuqi, CEO of Gulf Investment Corporation, added: "This is the second project that GIC and International Power-GDF SUEZ bring to successful completion in Bahrain, after Al Ezzel Power. With the completion of this award-winning project despite challenging financial market conditions, GIC is now the largest, single private foreign industrial investor in Bahrain. We and our partners continue to share the ambition of participating in vital infrastructure projects that the economies of the GCC require for their future growth." Khalid Al Bassam, Chairman of Bahrain Islamic Bank, said: "This is the first time that a power and water project in Bahrain has had such significant equity participation by Bahraini institutions. We are proud to say that this is the largest single private industrial project in Bahrain, and one which has now achieved commercial operation." The Al Dur plant will be operated and maintained by Al Ezzel Operation & Maintenance Company (AEOM), a wholly owned subsidiary of International Power. AEOM also operates the 954 MW Al Ezzel power generation plant.

March2012

Spanish major bags Abu Dhabi wastewater management contract The €76 million contract was awarded by Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) to a consortium of aqualia and Mace

consortium led by aqualia (FCC's water management subsidiary) and local company Mace has been awarded a wastewater management contract by the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC). The seven-year contract, worth €76.3 million (over Dh 371, million), covers the management of entire wastewater system of eastern Abu Dhabi, and is the first contract of its kind to be bagged by a Spanish company in the UAE. The scope of the contract includes operation and maintenance of more than 2,400 kilometres of sewers, 68 wastewater pumping stations and 19 wastewater treatment plants in the city of Al Ain and surrounding areas. The Abu Dhabi deal is aqualia’s second major breakthrough in the region after Saudi Arabia, where the company is currently implementing a leakage management project in Riyadh to reduce the leakage incidents in Riyadh’s water network and improve its efficiency. Aqualia, which heads the water division of FCC, is the world's third-largest water management company. It operates in 17 countries on four continents, providing services to over 1,100 municipalities and more than 28 million people. It has a backlog of €13 billion in stable, non-cyclical projects, 30% of which comes from contracts outside Spain.

UP NEXT PG24 - Interview: Frank Ackland, General Manager–Middle East & Africa for GE Energy’s Digital Energy Business

PG32 - Interview: Hiroyuki Yamamura, CEO and President, Toray Membrane Europe

PG68 -ELECTRICAL REVIEW

• Insulation testing and high-potting • Analysing dissipation factor test results

PG80 - Tenders & Projects Update

Rabigh IPP Phase 2; Musandam Power Project; Duqm Independent Water & Power Project (IWPP)

Dave Tredinnick, President of Emerson Process Management, Middle East & Africa

Emerson opens new service facility in Iraq Basra facility stakes claim to being the largest support facility of any process automation vendor in Iraq

merson Process Management has established a team of Iraqi technical field service engineers operating out of its new Basra support facility. Dave Tredinnick, President of Emerson Process Management, Middle East and Africa, said: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Emerson has a significant installed base in Iraq, which continues to expand with new project awards. Establishing a local, Iraqi-staffed service and support organisation has been a priority for Emerson. Our customers will benefit greatly in terms of speed of response, reducing their down time and improving production yield.â&#x20AC;? Iraqi service engineers have been deployed locally to handle start-up support, preventive maintenance, diagnostics and troubleshooting for control and safety systems, measurement devices, final control elements and fiscal metering systems. All the engineers, some with over three decades of experience, have been trained for a minimum of six months on Emerson equipment and methodologies. This included a formal Emerson certification process, field visits and integration into project execution teams, as well as language skills training and individuallytailored personal development programmes. Emerson also manages sales, account management, site management and project execution from the Basra location.

intheregion NEWS MENA

Siemens bags Qurayyah IPP deal in Saudi Arabia Second major combined cycle project win for Siemens in the kingdom after Ras Al-Khair; combined value of both projects exceed $2 billion Rashid AlBalooshi, Managing Director, Ghantoot Group

Ghantoot Group to invest $500 million in Oman The investment outlay includes two power plants, with a total capacity of 260 MW, to supply power to Musandam and Central Oman respectively

he Abu Dhabi-based Ghantoot Group has announced that it will invest $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) in various projects in Oman’s hospitality, water and power sectors. Starting 2012, the Group plans to establish two power plants, three hotels and invest in facilities for water desalination, transmission & distribution and oil & gas projects in the Sultanate. The first power plant, of 140 MW capacity, will be set up in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE to supply electricity to Musandam in Oman, and adjoining areas, while another power plant, of 120 MW capacity, will be set up in central Oman at a site to be finalised soon. When completed, both plants will supply power to Omani consumers at a lower cost burden to the government. “Over the past few years, the Sultanate of Oman has taken huge strides in driving its economy forward and generating jobs for its nationals. We are keen to partner with the Oman government and play a constructive role in the country’s development,” said Rashid AlBalooshi, Managing Director of Ghantoot Group. “Our investment in Oman reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth regions in the Middle East.” AlBalooshi also stated that a specialised training centre with a reputed UK college will provide training for UAE and Omani candidates to enter the utilities sector with diplomas and on-the-job apprentice training. This will greatly help in alleviating the shortage of skills in the region’s utilities sector. Conservative estimates indicate benefits of over $1 billion alone through direct investment savings and other water and power production cost savings once the aforementioned projects are implemented.

March2012

iemens will supply key components for the Qurayyah Independent Power Proect (IPP) Combined Cycle Power Plant (CCPP) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With an installed capacity of four GW, it will be one of the largest CCPPs in the world, and will meet approximately 1/10th of the country’s current power demand. Commissioning of all the six blocks is scheduled for 2014. The project consortium is led by the Saudi company ACWA Power. Siemens received the order from Samsung C&T which also acts as Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) contractor. In addition, a long-term service and maintenance agreement for the power plant was signed with Hajr Project Company (owned by SEC, ACWA, Samsung C&T). The plant will be commissioned in 2014. “We will be supplying advanced combined cycle equipment from our global manufacturing network,” said Roland Fischer, CEO of the Fossil Power Generation Division of Siemens Energy. The company will supply the components from its recently inaugurated US gas turbine production plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, and also from its manufacturing plants in Berlin and Muelheim, Germany. Siemens’ scope of supply encompasses a total of 12 SGT6-5000F gas turbines, 18 generators of the SGEN6-1000A series and six SST6-4000 steam turbines together with the associated electrical systems. Siemens Energy will also provide the long-term maintenance for the major equipment in the IPP. Siemens claims that Qurayyah will have a net efficiency of 52% and be 14 percentage points better than typical steam power plants in Saudi Arabia. Last year, Siemens bagged a similar contract for the 2,400 MW Ras Al-Khair (formerly called Ras Az Zawr) CCPP, valued at over $1 billion. After Ras Al-Khair, Shuaibah IWPP, Jeddah III, Ghazlan and Al Khobar projects, Qurayyah will be the sixth largescale power plant to be built by Siemens in Saudi Arabia. The company will also supply four gas turbines for the Hail Extension II and Al Qurayat Expansion II projects. Additionally, Siemens is planning to invest in a production and service centre for gas turbines in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

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intheregion NEWS MENA

DEWA awards solar park consultancy contract

Abu Dhabi’s first Independent Sewage Treatment Plant starts operation The 80,000 m3/day Al Saad Wastewater Treatment Plant incorporates co-generation and on-site generation of chlorine for disinfection

.H. Sheikh Tahnoun bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Ruler`s Representative in the Eastern Region inaugurated the Al Saad Wastewater Treatment Plant last month. The project is part of Al Ain master development strategy 2030, reports WAM. The inauguration took place in the presence of officials from governmental organisations and guests from across the region. The Dh365 million Al Saad Plant is one of the two plants that constitute ISTP1 (Independent Sewage Treatment Plant), the first privatisation project in the wastewater sector in UAE. ISTP1 is a 25-year concession granted by Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) under which Al Etihad Biwater Waste Water Company was awarded the build, own and operate (BOO) contract for two wastewater treatment plants at Al Wathba and Al Saad. Al Etihad Biwater Waste Water Company is a private joint stock company owned by Al Etihad Wastewater Company (a public joint stock company established by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Emirates Utilities Water and Powers. Al Saad Wastewater Treatment Plant is designed to treat a maximum flow of 92,000 m3/day of effluent currently, it treats 80,000 m3/day. The Al Wathba Plant, has a maximum capacity of 345,000 m3/day and is at its final commissioning stage. In addition to the tertiary treatment level, Al Saad Plant has a cogeneration facility which uses the biogas generated by anaerobic digestion of the sludge to produce 27% of the energy required for the operation of the plant, an environmentally friendly approach adopted for the first time in the UAE wastewater treatment sector. Health, safety and environmental initiatives have been fundamental to the project. Thus the hypochlorite used for disinfection is generated on site from Sodium Chloride, thus reducing the hazards associated with the handling and transportation of toxic chlorine gas, in an another first in the region. The construction of the plant was carried out by a consortium comprised of Kharafi National and UK's Biwater International (BIL).

March2012

ILF Consulting Engineers wins the engineering consultancy contract for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park and construction of 10 MW solar PV plant

ubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has awarded the engineering consultancy contract for the overall development of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, and the construction of a 10 MW Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant to ILF Consulting Engineers. DEWA received six bids from leading engineering consultants from around the globe in response to the tender, which was issued in November 2011. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park at the start of 2012. The park, which will have an eventual capacity of 1,000 MW and estimated cost of $3.3 billion, will be located in Seih Al Dahal on the Dubai-Al Ain Road and is being developed as part of the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030. DEWA will manage the overall development and operation of the solar park. “This study is a key step in the implementation of the energy diversification strategy adopted by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, in which solar energy is set to become part of Dubai’s energy portfolio. The strategy aims to maintain the security of supply in the Emirate of Dubai,” said H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer MD & CEO of DEWA. “The scope of the study includes the best practices that are in line with DEWA’s strategy covering best suited plant configuration, capacities, and technologies, and a study for developing the entire solar park.”

The solar park will have an eventual capacity of 1 GW

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NEWS international

atlarge More renewable power capacity was installed during 2011 than any other year

Wind supplies 6.3% of the EU's electricity Wind energy accounted for over 21% of new power capacity added in 2011

n 2011, 9,616 MW of wind energy capacity was installed in the EU, making a total of 93,957 MW, enough to supply 6.3% of the EU's electricity, according to figures published by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). Representing 21.4% of new power capacity, wind energy installations in 2011 were very similar to the previous year's 9,648 MW. The wind industry has had an average annual growth of 15.6% over the last 17 years (1995-2011). Overall last year, the EU's total installed power capacity increased by 35,468 MW net to 895,878 MW, with wind power increasing its share of installed capacity to 10.5%, and renewable capacity increasing its share to 31.1%. Altogether, more renewable power capacity was installed during 2011 than any other year. Renewables accounted for 71.3% of new installations: 32,043 MW - up 37.7% on 2010 installations. Both fuel oil and nuclear power saw a drop last year, with more capacity decommissioned than installed. "Despite the economic crisis gripping Europe, the wind industry is still installing solid levels of new capacity", said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director of EWEA. "But to achieve the EU's long-term targets we need strong growth again in future years. It is critical to send positive signals to investors by European governments maintaining stable policies to support renewables and for the European Union to commit to put in place a binding renewable energy target for 2030." Growth in onshore installations in Germany and Sweden, and offshore in the UK - together with continuing strong performances from some emerging onshore markets such as Romania - offset a fall in installations in mature markets such as France and Spain. Overall, Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, France, Italy and the UK.

March2012

Jim Pierce, Chairman of Marsh’s Global Energy Practice

New risk paradigm The rapid evolution of the global hydrocarbon industry is creating a seismic change in the risk landscape for energy businesses

apid growth is creating paradigm shift in risks facing global energy firms, according to a report published by Marsh for its National Oil Companies (NOC) Conference in Dubai last month. Marsh’s report, The Energy Industry: An Evolving Risk Landscape, cites cross-border expansion and resultant regulation, ageing infrastructures and increasingly complex supply chains among the major risks that threaten the continued prosperity of NOCs and other energy companies. By adopting a more holistic approach to risk management, Marsh argues, firms can reduce the impact of risk on their balance sheets and maximise the opportunities their continued expansion presents. According to Marsh, the major risks facing the global energy sector are: accessing increasingly challenging reserves; paradigm shift in the relationships between NOCs and International Oil Companies; the regulatory environment; restricted availability of capital; asset ageing and decommissioning; skills shortages; geo-political tensions; and lengthier supply chains. Launching the report, Eddie McLaughlin, a Managing Director in Marsh Risk Consulting, said: “As NOCs grow, financial, geopolitical and technological risks become increasingly pervasive and inter-connected. NOCs must arm themselves with the ability to anticipate risk and then mount superb responses in the face of the unpredictable. It is this very excellence that helps mark such companies out as ‘elite’ organisations.” Jim Pierce, Chairman of Marsh’s Global Energy Practice, added: “NOCs have prospered following a prolonged period of growth, but this same growth has created a new era of risk. Increasingly complex in their nature, the risks associated with cross-border expansion, increased regulation, ageing infrastructures and longer supply chains have the potential to stop future expansion plans in their tracks."

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ADVERTORIAL JUMO

Advertorial Making sea water desalination work MAINTAINING PROPER PRESSURE AND CONDUCTIVITY PARAMETERS IN RO DESALINATION ENSURES SMOOTHER RUNNING OF THE PROCESS RUNS AND HIGH-QUALITY END PRODUCT.

ccording to UNESCO studies, drinking water supply is becoming highly problematic in many parts of the world. There is a limited amount of water available on our planet, and 97.5% of it contains salt. Against this background, salt water is a significant source of drinking water. In areas where there is little or only contaminated groundwater and surface water as well as on ships and islands, desalination of sea water, especially by Reverse Osmosis (RO) is seen as an important solution for producing drinking water. Maintaining specific measurement values ensures that the process runs smoothly and that the end product is of good quality. Next to pressure, conductivity is one of the most important parameters for a seawater desalination plant, as it is relatively easy to determine the level of desalination with this value. The conductivity needs to be measured before and after RO. Maximum process safety is also ensured by measuring the pressure before reverse osmosis. The RO unit is the crucial element in a seawater desalination plant. This is where desalination occurs, using a special form of membrane filtration. Seawater is pushed through a semi-permeable membrane under high pressure. The membrane acts as a filter and only allows certain ions and molecules to pass through. The result of this process is fresh water. Membranes with > 99.5% retention are used for seawater desalination. They are usually made from polyamide, polysulfone or cellulose acetate. The membranes used for RO are susceptible to fouling (colloid, micro-organism and metal oxide deposits), scaling (CaCO3, CaSO4 and BaSO4 deposits) and oxidation agents.

Inductive conductivity measurement before RO

Seawater desalination plant

March2012

The salt concentration of seawater ranges from 10 to 40 g/l. Such high salinity levels can lead to measurement errors or sensor failure in conventional

BY DR. ÖZNUR ALP & SARAH SCHÖNRATH

conductive conductivity measurement. It does not matter whether the conductive two-electrode or four-electrode method is used for measurement. At present, the inductive measurement method is used from approximately 100 μS/cm to 2000 mS/cm. This allows largely maintenancefree acquisition of specific conductivity, even in the toughest media conditions. Compared with the conductive measurement method, problems such as electrode corrosion and polarisation are practically non-existent. An inductive conductivity cell consists of two coils housed in a plastic casing. One coil is supplied with alternating voltage. The electric field induces a voltage in the second coil, the receiver coil. The level of this voltage is dependent on the conductivity of the sample medium. The conductivity can be calculated, and when the sample medium is seawater, it is also possible to determine the salinity.

Principle of inductive, non-contact measurement (l.) and the JUMO CTI-500 (r.)

Before RO, conductivity is measured by the JUMO CTI-500 inductive conductivity transmitter with integrated temperature sensor. As the conductivity of the sample medium is temperature-dependent, the established conductivity must be projected back to a reference temperature (the compensated conductivity), which allows the measurement results to be compared with each other. This is why the JUMO CTI- 500 has an integrated temperature sensor. The two integrated switching outputs of the JUMO CTI-500 transmitter can be freely programmed to monitor the conductivity/ concentration limits and/or the temperature limits. Alarm and control tasks can also be assigned. The instrument is designed for on-site use. A robust housing protects the electronics and electrical connections against aggressive environmental conditions (IP 67 protection rating). Either a membrane keypad, a plain text graphic display (the operating language can be selected) or a convenient PC

set-up program can be used for operation. The instrument is virtually maintenance-free, as there are no wearing parts.

The process safety of RO is ensured with more than twice the osmotic pressure. In sea water, the pressure transmitter that is used must meet strict corrosion resistance requirements. The JUMO MIDAS SW, with its titanium housing and pressure connection and its impervious and hysteresis-free aluminum oxide (Al2O3) ceramic measuring cell, is specifically geared to this. The instrument can be used to acquire relative pressure in a measuring range of 400 mbar to 100 bar in liquid or gaseous media (from –20 to +125 °C). A vast number of electrical output signals are available for the various process applications. The basis for development was a sensor technology that has proved its worth a hundred thousand times over in the pressure transmitters of the JUMO MIDAS product family. Because of this, and thanks to the fully automatic measuring and calibrating system that it makes possible, a high level of quality is assured. To sum UP, in areas where there is little or only contaminated groundwater and surface water, the desalination of seawater to produce drinking water is of great importance. JUMO can assist this process with analysis and pressure measurement technology. Dr. Öznur Alp is Analysis Measurement Technology Product Manager, JUMO. E-mail: oeznur.alp@jumo.net; Sarah Schönrath, Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. (FH) is Pressure Measurement Equipment Product Manager, JUMO. E-mail: sarah.schoenrath@jumo.net

JUMO ADVERTORIAL

CONDUCTIVE MEASUREMENT WITH TWO ELECTRODE MEASURING CELLS: The average salinity of seawater is 3.5 per cent by weight. Reverse Osmosis reduces the dissolved substances by 95-98%. After RO, it is possible to switch to conductive conductivity measurement, as the outgoing water has low salinity. JUMO tecLine Lf-VA conductive two-electrode conductivity cells are suitable for this, with a choice of stainless steel or titanium versions. This measuring cell is the simplest design of conductivity cell. It consists of two electrodes and a shaft, to hold them in position. A constant alternating voltage is applied between the electrodes. The current flowing through the solution provides the measurement signal. In addition to conductivity cells, sea water desalination plants also use transmitters and control instruments. The transmitter, for example, takes on the task of conditioning the measuring cell signal. The measuring cell signal is converted to a standard signal (example, 4 - 20 mA current signal). It should be possible to mount the measurement and control instruments to meet on-site requirements. JUMO offers a wide selection of models with respect to instruments and their installation. Customers typically choose panel mounting (JUMO dTRANS CR 02), installation in a wall-mounted housing (JUMO AQUIS 500 CR) with a high protection rating (IP 67) and a DIN rail mounting (JUMO ecoTRANS Lf 03).

Pressure measurement before RO

Expect more.

Innovative excellence for your success.

Temperature

Liquid analysis

Pressure

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Recording

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www.jumo.ae March2012

NEWS industrynotes

smartmeters

The tipping point

Frank Ackland, General Manager – Middle East & Africa, GE Energy’s Digital Energy Business.

WITH ENERGY EFFICIENCY AWARENESS ON THE ASCENDANT IN THE REGION, SMART METERS ARE POISED TO MULTIPLY

or Frank Ackland, General Manager – Middle East & Africa for GE Energy’s Digital Energy Business, smart grid is not a product, but a mindset. “It is about looking at the technology available today and finding ways of using that technology to improve the efficiency of our electricity networks,” he said. “So a utility cannot buy a smart grid.” Ackland's Digital Energy business provides integrated smart grid solutions and reliable power deliver systems to electric utilities as well as oil & gas, critical infrastructure and industrial sectors. He quoted a study by the US Department of Energy (DoE), which noted that it is 70 to 170 times more expensive to build a power plant to generate 1 kW than putting in energy saving measures to reduce demand by 1 KW. “The key message here is we need to have more efficient generation balanced with better demand management,” Ackland said. “To do all the things we need to do to make the grid more efficient, we need to have a building block, which is the smart meter.” Highlighting the benefits of smart meters in the context of trials carried out by GE in Florida and Iowa in co-operation with customers, he pointed out that one of the objectives of the trial was to understand the impact of smart meters on consumer behaviour. The trial results showed an average 10% reduction in the energy consumption of homes where smart meters were installed. “It was a really interesting to talk to consumers on why the smart meter is good for them and to utilities on why it is good for the environment,” noted Ackland. Connecting the smart meter to smart appliances gives the consumer the option of using the appliances when demand for power is low. In countries with dynamic pricing, the consumer can move his demand to a slot where the electricity price is cheaper. “This is where the smart meter is the great enabler,” he continued. “It is the device that links what you do at home, your energy demand with what happens on the other side in T&D, generation.” At the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi in January this year, GE Energy launched its new SGM3000, a family of IEC smart energy meters targeted

at the Middle East and European markets. “We had a series of products in the market for many years around US specifications,” explained Ackland. “But in Europe and the Middle East, the specifications are different. In the Middle East, smart meter penetration is less than 10%, which means that 90% of homes and businesses are untapped to date. So there is tremendous scope for smart meter roll outs in the region.” But will the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members be persuaded by the energy effciency benefits of smart meters, when they are sitting on some of the largest energy reserves in the world, and when their selling point to investors has always been cheap energy? “Are utilities currently incentivised around energy efficiency? In many cases, they are, but they also need to try and find other ways to look at the problem,” countered Ackland. He said there is a conversation currently running through the industry on whether dynamic pricing will change consumer behaviour in the region? In the rest of the world, wherever it has been implemented, dynamic pricing has changed behaviour. The fact that the Middle East has some of the highest energy consumption in the world, with electricity demand expected to grow by 115% by 2030 poses a major challenge to utilities here. Ackland claimed that his interactions to date with utilities, starting from 1998 when he first set foot here, leaves him with little doubt about the significant increase in the region's awareness quotient. “I am convinced we are almost at the tipping point, where consumers, government, utilities and regulators are beginning to say that something can be done. The exact mix of how adapt to energy efficiency may be slightly different to other parts of the world, but I am sure something will be rolled out here,” he observed, adding that with the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) now in its fifth year, the energy efficiency message must be surely getting out.

(Read the rest of the interview on www.megawhatme.com)

March2012

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ADVERTORIAL HUBER

Advertorial HUBER Sludge Dewatering Screw Press Rotamat RoS 3Q HUBER TECHNOLOGY'S ROTAMAT ROS 3Q IS THE LATEST ADDITION TO HUBER’S LARGE SLUDGE TREATMENT PRODUCT PORTFOLIO.

he RoS 3Q is an inclined dewatering Screw Press machine which is provided with a conical auger slowly rotating in a cylindrical 3-piece filter basket. The flocculated sludge is fed into the inlet housing where a pressure transmitter measures the sludge feed pressure. In the first filter section a large open filtration area ensures rapid removal of free water. While the sludge is conveyed to the second filter section the sludge flocs get compressed against the filter basket as cake thickness continuously narrows down. In the third filter section the cake thickness is reduced to its minimum while an individual dehydration force is applied on the sludge cake by an adjustable pneumatic cone. The outside of the filter basket is periodically opened with water by a spray bar while the filters inner surface is continuously cleaned by a wiper element fixed to the auger helix. In the past two years, nearly 80 screw presses, type RoS3 Q, have been sold and put into operation in the three countries Germany, US and Sweden alone. Tests with

mobile screw press units were carried out on seven sites in Switzerland with most different types of sludge. The test results exceeded all expectations. It was above all the high final dry residue content the potential customers were excited about, especially in view of absolutely moderate flocculant consumption.

Huber ROTAMAT® Screw Press RoS 3Q

On three of the test sites we had the chance to compare the efficiency of our RoS 3Q directly with other dewatering systems presently available on the market. In parallel tests the RoS 3Q achieved better results than two centrifuges, both in terms of dewatering efficiency and separation degree. In both cases the sludge discharge rate was by about two per cent higher. The final DR content achieved was “only” by one per cent higher compared to a fixed installed screw press of a competitive supplier, but the RoS 3Q produced a significantly better centrate, i.e. separation degree.

Crumbly discharged material with a DR >35%

Test unit in operation in front of the breath-taking mountain scenery near Zermatt

March2012

In addition to these excellent results, the RoS 3Q convinced the operating staff on the test sites with other advantages. They noticed positively that the complete plant can be switched on and off as desired with a main switch without long run-up, even after several hours of interruption. “Simply switch it on and it is running”, said one of them. They were also impressed by the machine's low vibration and its operation without any noise which is ensured by the very low screw speed of between 0.2 to 1.0 rpm. Another benefit of this gentle operation is

minimal wear. Furthermore, fully automatic plant operation convinced the operating staff, especially the pressure control system which permits to react automatically to changes in the inlet sludge.

Advantages of the RoS 3Q Screw Press are: â&#x20AC;˘Lowest investment costs â&#x20AC;˘Competitive dewatering performance (even on poor sludges) â&#x20AC;˘Encapsulated design; option for ventilation â&#x20AC;˘Easy access to all moving parts â&#x20AC;˘Lowest operator attention required (very important on small & medium sized STPs) â&#x20AC;˘Lowest manpower requirements (for operation and maintenance) â&#x20AC;˘Easy automation â&#x20AC;˘Hardly any wear parts â&#x20AC;˘Crumbly cake structure (even at low cake solids) â&#x20AC;˘Noise level < 70 dB(A) â&#x20AC;˘No vibrations â&#x20AC;˘No special requirements regarding support structure

! "

Due to the large number of screw presses sold over the past 10 years for sewage sludge dewatering projects, we are today in the position to rely on a rich trove of experience and know that screw presses are generally an equally performing and cost-effective alternative to the commonly used centrifuges or beltpresses.

For further information, please visit our website (www.huberme.com) or contact Huber Technology Middle East FZE.

NEWS industrynotes

billing Abu Dhabi unveils new utility bill SMART METERS USHER IN TRANSPARENT BILLING; NEW BILL AIM TO RAISE AWARENESS AND INDUCE CUSTOMERS TO EMBRACE SUSTAINABLE USE OF WATER AND ELECTRICITY.

rom March onwards, Abu Dhabi residents will have a new utility bill for water and electricity, which will provide them with the necessary information to manage their consumption. The new bill is underpinned by a major smart meter roll out, which will cover the entire Abu Dhabi emirate by end-2013. Speaking on behalf of the sector, Nicholas Carter, Director General of the Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB) said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Consumption demand is growing in Abu Dhabi. The peak in 2011, compared to 2010, was 12-15% for electricity and seven per cent for water. The new bill provides a way to address rising consumption and influence long-term behavioural change.â&#x20AC;? The new bill actually comprises of two separate bills â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the electricity bill is shaded red and carries a plug symbol, while the water bill is shaded blue and carries a water drop symbol. The consumption bands, confined to residential customers only, will give them an average range to benchmark their water and electricity use against the ideal average for their property. The green â&#x20AC;&#x153;tickâ&#x20AC;? symbol on the bill shows the ideal-average and the red â&#x20AC;&#x153;exclamationâ&#x20AC;? symbol indicates the above ideal-average. The consumption bands are based on annual averages for each property type and are as follows:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ideal averages for electricity and water represent the mean value culled from our surveys of electricity and water consumption in the emirate,â&#x20AC;? explained Carter. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With electricity, it is more about premises, while with water, it is about people. Our litres/per day calculation is based on average consumption in a flat occupied by four people. From a WHO standpoint, 160-200 litres/day/person is a sustainable level of water consumption and provides for the needs of people living in urban areas.â&#x20AC;? Importantly, the unit charge will stay the same, whether the customer is in the red or green, with no penalties for higher consumption.

March2012

While Nationals continue to receive free water, the new bill will be sent to them as an information tool to help build awareness around consumption. Carter claimed that non-nationals are also being subsidised on their water and power consumption to the extent of 50%. For both domestic as well as commercial customers, the bills will show the subsidy they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to pay versus the actual cost. â&#x20AC;&#x153;By showing the actual cost of the utility, customers will understand the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution to the sector," said Carter. "This will increase awareness among the consumers in relation to their consumption of water and electricity." â&#x20AC;&#x153;Peak summer demand drives a core part of the sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s costs and it is consumer behaviour at this time of year that we need to influence,â&#x20AC;? said a spokesperson of the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (AADC). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Based on current use, we know that most of our customers will be â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;in the redâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the summer months. By encouraging customers to use efficient appliances and adjust their air conditioning, we can reduce our electricity use significantly.â&#x20AC;? Carter pointed out varying the bills across the seasons were ruled out as it would distort their underlying conservation message to the customers: understand how government subsidy underwrites a large part of the actual cost of producing and delivering water and electricity to them and determine how to manage consumption, especially if one is in the red.

The cost equations The current pricing for water and electricity in Abu Dhabi emirate are as follows:

WATER: standard tariff is Dh2.20/unit (1 unit = 1 m3= 1,000 litres) for non-UAE nationals. Water is free for UAE nationals. ELECTRICITY: standard tariff is 15 fils/unit (1 unit = 1 kWh) for non-Nationals and residential tariff for Nationals is 5 fils/unit. The current actual unit cost of electricity for residential customers is 32 fils/unit while for non-residential customers (commercial, industrial, agricultural or government) it is

providing efficiency across the sector is going to significantly reduce additional investment by the government, both in terms of building new infrastructure and ongoing in terms of the fuel required to produce power and water. Behavioural change, which is supported by this initiative, is one of the mechanisms available to the sector to try and encourage more efficient use of resources.”

industrynotes NEWS

25.4 fils/unit. In the case of water, the current actual unit cost is Dh9.11 per cubic metre or basically less than a fil/ litre. These rates are based on an annual review of the 2010 audited accounts. “The residential rate is higher because residential customers have the largest difference between winter and summer demand for electricity,” said Carter. “They have peaking load profiles, while industrial processes have flat load profiles. So the assets built to supply the latter are well-utilised, while with the former, the assets are not well utilised; therefore, to some extent, residential customers are more expensive to serve.” To ensure customers are not taken by surprise, an information campaign was started to introduce the new bill in the months leading up to March, highlighting the key changes and addressing concerns and questions that many customers may wish to ask. Based on an energy consumption theme, the campaign introduced two ‘consumption’ symbols as tools for behaviour change. An advertising campaign (are you in the green or in the red) formed part of the programme. Other campaigns will be rolled out through March and April to help customers understand their new bills. Also, the new bill will be rolled out in phases during March and April starting with residential and business customers, although as bills are mailed throughout a month’s cycle, not all customers will see the new bill immediately. Additional services such as online viewing of the new bill, bill reprints and online statements for corporate accounts will be introduced in April. To address the issue of ‘more paper’, an e-mail option will supplement the existing SMS “total to pay” alert. Carter said: “The billing system is becoming more ‘green.’ The e-version will be an exact replica of the paper bills, and moreover, the customer care centres too will view the same bills in their systems. Thus, everybody will have a single version of the bills. As the new intelligent billing system is equipped with enormous storage capacity, the distribution companies will also be able to track the consumption patterns of customers." “By 2020, we are anticipating power and water demand to be over double of what it is at the moment,” said an ADWEA official. “Whatever can be done in terms of

The smart angle RSB is also embarking on time-of-day pricing trials, beginning this quarter. (Read more about this at www. megawhatme.com). Carter said: “Singapore had carried out such trials where priced the unit of electricity in real time. Results showed people did change their behaviour with no economic penalty because of the information given to them. I don’t know anywhere else in the Middle East that provides this level of information, so to some extent I suspect other countries will be asking us that question in a year or two.” Underlying all these initiatives is a major smart meter rollout that was embarked upon two years ago. The first phase of 200,000 meters will become operational in March. Carter continued: “The smart meters are part of a broader strategy of smart grid implementation. RSB has launched a self regulating license which allows embedded or distributed renewable energy generation. Smart meters can measure bi-directional flow of current and net-off, so people producing energy on their premises can be netted off against the charge coming from the company.” By 2013end, there will be approximately 800,000 smart meters installed across whole emirate of Abu Dhabi, split more or less equally between power and water sectors and serving 400,000 customers. The cost of the smart meter will be depreciated over its lifetime, estimated at 20 years. “RSB allows the capital expenditure to be spread over the operating cost of the company for 20 years in terms of depreciation. That will appear in the unit cost so some cost will be picked up by customers and some through the subsidy,” said Carter.

By Anoop K Menon

March2012

NEWS industrynotes

cabletalk

Wired for growth EVEN AS DUCAB FOCUSES ON CONSOLIDATING ITS MANUFACTURING INVESTMENTS THIS YEAR, ITS GROWTH AGENDA HAS ACQUIRED NEW DIMENSIONS

012 is a consolidation year where Ducab is concerned. The UAE’s leading cable and wire manufacturer will be working to “consolidate its recent investments like the specialist cable plant and the High Voltage (HV) cable factory this year,” said Colin McKay, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Ducab, speaking to MW-H20 at Middle East Electricity (MEE) 2012 exhibition last month. At the same time, Ducab will continue to pursue growth by targeting existing, nascent and new business segments as well as spreading its wings in the African markets. At home, it intends further to ramp up its share of the domestic market. While the company is seeing considerable traction in renewable energy markets, especially solar and also in desalination markets, McKay rues there isn’t any significant demand emanating from the power generation sector. And while there are opportunities in power transmission, most of the circuits being installed are overhead lines, where Ducab doesn’t have a presence for now. “It is an area we are looking at because it dovetails nicely with our product range,” said McKay. On the underground cables front, McKay hopes that demand for 132 kV cables will come through by 2013 as demand for HV distribution is now growing. Ducab is also busy setting up a distribution network and appointing agents throughout Africa, where the company sees a lot of opportunities, especially in oil & gas. With rising standard of living, demand for cables in the construction and real estate sectors is also growing. “In terms of target markets, I think the opportunities will come from former British colonies because they follow mainly British standards,” claimed McKay. “Countries like Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria are key markets for us. In oil & gas, we will also be branching to lesser known countries like Equatorial Guinea.” McKay is confident that Ducab’s track record in oil & gas sector in the Middle East will enable the company to crack the African market. “The super contractors tend to be the same, whether here or in Africa, and we enjoy excellent relationships with them,” said McKay. Approximately 60% of Ducab's total sales are made outside the UAE market. At MEE, Ducab launched its new range of cables 'FLAMBICC', fire-resistant cables for residential and industrial use and a new breed of flexible cables, designed for indoor wiring applications. In the context of the recent

March2012

Colin McKay, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Ducab

fire incident in Sharjah, which completely destroyed a 140-storey residential tower, McKay observed that substandard cables in buildings put the residents and public at great risk during incidents like fires. “The segment affected most by substandard cables is small building wires, mainly flexible cords,” said McKay. “The culprits are traders who buy these cables from outside the GCC. What we have sampled is not being produced in the GCC, which indicates that standards are in place across the region. Moreover, the imported cables tend to have aluminium and copper-clad steel cores instead of copper." Ducab is trying to get a certification scheme put in place for flexible cords too. “In the case of alarm circuits and emergency lighting, civil defence requires the cable to be certified. We don’t see a problem at all in that sector because they police it. We want something similar for flexible cords too,” said McKay. Ducab’s first flexible cord for 105 degree C application is British Approvals Service for Cables (BASEC) approved. “We want our competitors to do the same so that there is a third party permanently testing the cables,” explained McKay. “We are just looking for a level playing field where everyone is bringing in cables that actually meet standards. In this regard, we are working with the local government, the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) and civil defence. Unfortunately, it took a real disaster like Sharjah to give this initiative momentum.” McKay feels that the UAE needs an effective trading standards organisation that goes and checks for substandard products. “It is not just cables, but other products also have the same problem,” he said.

(Read the rest of the interview at www.megawhatme.com)

By Anoop K Menon

What does our successful water future look like?

GLOBAL WATER SUMMIT 2012

B R AV E N E W W O R L D 30TH APRIL AND 1ST MAY 2012 AT THE CAVALIERI HILTON, ROME

Sponsors:

INCLUDES THE GLOBAL WATER AWARDS CEREMONY FOR 2012

www.watermeetsmoney.com

FEATURE interview

shorttake

Fujairah F2 IWPP's Intake

Hiroyuki Yamamura, CEO and President, Toray Membrane Europe As you look at the competitive landscape in membrane-based water and wastewater treatment, what do you feel are the notable differentiators for Toray?

n the technical side, we are proud of our Toray Membrane Research & Development Centre, employing the best industry talent and experienced specialists and continuously developing a range of new membrane products for ample applications and with the best performance. Toray has the capability to develop and provide the best membrane products in the industry, both for today and the future. On the commercial side, we have emerged as a global leader thanks to our Global Sales Team (GST) comprising the best senior technical and commercial experts from all parts of the world. The Toray GST is backed up by strategically located regional offices and representatives in many countries to support customers (OEMs) in each area in a competent and fast track manner and with deep local understanding and knowledge. We see our technical service capability as an important and positive competitive differentiator while working with global customers.

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What are the key projects that Toray is justifiably proud of in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EME&A) region?

oray has supplied Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane elements, technical design support and hands-on consulting all the way to commissioning and ongoing operation for significant projects in the vast and diverse EME&A region. In Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) applications, there are more than 10 plants using Toray RO membrane elements with capacities exceeding 100,000 m3/day, including Magtaa (Algeria, 500,000 m3/day), Al Dur (Bahrain, 220,000 m3/day), Hamma (Algeria, 200,000 m3/ day), Shuaibah (KSA, 150,000 m3/day), Fujairah 2 (UAE, 140,000 m3/day). For Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) membrane products including wastewater reclamation applications, the largest one is the Sulaibiya wastewater reclamation plant (Kuwait, 320,000 m3/day), while in Saudi Arabia, Toray RO elements are also widely used with great success in projects like Ar-Rass (36,000 m3/day) and AlBukariyah (36,000 m3/day). As for new projects, a recent win is the considerably large Tuaspring Desalination Plant in Singapore (320,000 m3/day). We are in line to announce a series of new projects awarded across the EMEA region in the very near future.

interview FEATURE

Artist's impression of the Magtaa Desalination plant (Courtesy: Hyflux)

On the R&D front, could you share with us some of the technology breakthroughs achieved by Toray recently? How has the company retained its innovation edge while continuing to grow?

n response to our regional market intelligence from Toray Membrane Europe in Basel, which is the regional office for EME&A, the Toray Membrane Research & Development Centre in Japan has been successful in further advancing a series of technology developments. The new Toray membrane line up includes a number of high rejection and high permeability SWRO membrane elements for large scale projects as well as high permeability and low operating pressure BWRO elements, that have set industry benchmarks and offer the most tailored-to-application range of choice in the industry today. Only a few months into their launch in the market, the new Toray line up of RO membrane elements has already won the acceptance of key customers and operators due to their technical performance and technical support by Toray at all stages of a project, including replacements.

From treatment efficiency and cost standpoints, where do membranes stand today in desalination and wastewater treatment?

f we take 'efficiency' to be the ratio at which we can obtain fresh water from seawater, Toray has been dramatically improving its technology and that development has been widely recognised in the industry.

The general advantage of RO membrane technology is that it is very mild on the environment because applied RO membrane technology does not lead to phase separation. The feed water can be transferred in its composite status only, for example, from seawater to fresh water. RO membrane products by Toray are a leading edge, benchmark technology, which help provide treated water with lowest cost in the fields of desalination and wastewater reclamation.

Could you elaborate on your priorities for 2012 in terms of business growth? In your opinion, what are the market segments and the countries within EME&A that will drive this growth?

any of Toray's key customers and OEMs are based in Europe, and we are growing ever closer. We have partnered them in their international and global ambitions and have achieved a successful track record in that regard. With gradual recovery of the economic outlook on the backdrop of urgent demand and requirement for Toray RO membrane products to help ensure reliable supply of water in the region, our operative focus will span all of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and beyond, covering SWRO, BWRO, MBR and other water treatment projects, leveraging our ability to provide cutting edge quality products based on innovative technology and a sizeable manufacturing capacity which can serve the most ambitious timelines and project sizes.

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FEATURE interview

ontherecord Grid guru DR JAN MROSIK BEGAN HIS CAREER AT SIEMENS IN 1996 IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (ICN) IN MUNICH. IN 2005, HE BECAME CEO OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS OF SIEMENS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. IN 2008, MROSIK TOOK UP THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR BUSINESS UNIT ENERGY AUTOMATION WITHIN THE ENERGY SECTOR. SINCE MAY 2011, HE HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SIEMENS SMART GRID. DR MROSIK SPOKE TO ANOOP K MENON ON THE TRENDS IN THE SMART GRID SPACE, THE FOLLY OF EMBRACING A ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH IN SMART GRID IMPLEMENTATIONS, AND TRANSITIONING WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A FIRST WORLD VISION TO EMERGING MARKET REALITIES.

Could you comment on the broad trends in the smart grid space today?

here are different areas where smart grids have evolved. A major trend we see is smart grids and automation moving into the distribution grid space. For long, automation and smart grids were confined to the transmission field. Thus, distribution grids, in many countries, remain the ones that to date, are not observable or remotely manageable, and therefore, have to be upgraded. The reasons behind distribution grid automation are two-fold. First, distribution grids have to cope with the new challenges emanating from growth of renewable energy. Second, the requirements, as far as the stability and availability of the grid is concerned, are getting more and more stringent. Therefore, in countries where availability is an issue, smart grid deployments are happening despite the fact that renewables are not an issue. One of the measures seen in a lot of roll outs is the installation of metering to get a handle on what is happening in the grid, in addition to putting in substation automation even on the secondary substation. This provides a lot of end points, on the consumer side, to check and measure what is going in the grid. The data coming out of the meters has to be collected via communications. It ends up in a Meter Data Management (MDM) system, which provides a data base for managing the meters, doing workflows and also storing the meter data, in order to provide them to different devices or systems in the grid (like the billing system in

March2012

order to provide bills to the customers). But this is not the end all. A demand response system would also heavily rely on meter data because it can give an accurate picture of the consumption in the grid. An advanced Distribution Management System (DMS) system can make very efficient use of meter data because it reflects where the grid is off/on, where the problems are, where interference or management needs to happen. Therefore, Meter Data Management (MDM), from our point of view, is a very centralised and strategic platform as all the consumer data moves through it, and this data can be used for different purposes in order to manage the grid and perform operational work, over and above the billing purpose they have. That is why we acquired e-meter, one of the leading providers of MDM information technology (IT) solutions. And I believe that this is a platform which provides a strong basis for also providing data analytics to the grid.

Is IT making major inroads into the smart grid technology play?

T is a major topic today where the smart grid is concerned. Distribution grid is one thing, connection of generation and consumption to the grid is another. Now that you have an overall value chain, you have IT on top of the smart grid. As you put in more distribution automation and feeder automation, you need an IT system like DMS to run this properly. Then there are several IT platforms you need in order to manage and steer the grid. You need a demand response platform for the consumption side;

We have covered generation, transmission and distribution in relation to the smart grid or the utility side of things. But is there something for the end-consumer too? Does he have access to data to help him understand and manage his energy bills?

here are two aspects to this - first, the equipment on the premises of the customer, which is what our billing technology colleagues put together. In the case of big plants, our industry colleagues are also doing the automation and providing energy solutions for the plant. We interface from a smart grid perspective with that system. If there is an Energy Management System (EMS) being provided by our billing technology colleagues, we connect to that. In the case of the end-consumer, the billing also has a portfolio of house automation solutions. What we need to provide, from a MDM perspective, is a web-interface that helps the consumer understand what their consumption is like and how it can be optimised. This is one of the features and applications that the MDM platform from e-meter provides. It provides a web interface that you can dial into and check your consumption, compare how you stack up against your neighbours, and see what your electricity bill will look like at the end of the month, if you continue with your current consumption pattern.

How is smart gridâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s push into distribution going to benefit the utilities? It is going to be important to them in different ways. First, it is about making sure that the grid's reliability is maximised. Distribution automation helps you to identify problems as quickly as possible in the grid. Secondly, it helps in integrating renewables because they usually feed-in at the low to medium voltage levels. Of course, you also have big ticket renewable generation on the high voltage side.This in-feed influences the grid. In the past, the highest voltage used to be on the secondary substation. From there, the voltage level dropped (as per Ohm's law). But now you have a feed-in right at the end of the feeder and all of a sudden, the biggest voltage level might appear at the end of the feeder or in the middle. Due to this, the network condition, the values in the grid, the power flow need to be measured and managed. The data of these measurement systems is being used, for example, to control the step transformer in the secondary substation or to regulate the voltage level to stay within the band limitations allowed. In fact, renewable energy requires operators to put in automation due to the fact that grid

conditions have changed, and needs to be managed and measured now in an active way.

Between hardware and software sides of the smart grid, where do you see more traction in the future?

he push is going to come from the requirements that the utilities have, not from a technical aspect of the smart grid as such. If you put in field equipment, you need IT devices that do something with the data these field devices produce. But the data, in the smart meter or distribution grid automation, is going to be put in by utilities and our customers due to the fact they have requirements - either they want to make the grid more reliable or they want to deal with renewable energy or manage capacity constraints. Out of these requirements, tailored smart grid solutions are being put in place consisting of field equipment, substation automation, micro-grid type of solutions and also IT solutions, and they have to work with each other in order to provide a complete solution to the specific problem. This is how I see the chain - what requirements the customer has, what keeps him awake at night and what is the solution consisting of these two different layers in order to make sure that his problem is resolved.

interview FEATURE

you need MDM, you need virtual power plants to organise and manage the generation side of the grid. Over and above that, you need a layer of business analytics, asset management and all kinds of IT platforms.

So what is going to keep utility folks here awake at night?

hat would be reliability of the grid, renewables, efficient use of assets, efficient use of capacities, load balancing or end-generation balancing at any given point in time, load shifting and balancing of income and consumption. There are countries in the world where energy is not, in all instances, being paid for. There needs to be solutions for this, the so-called nontechnical losses. These are the things that, from my point of view, keep our customers awake at night. There are different priorities according to countries - in the US, it is reliability of the grid; in Germany, it is renewable energy; in some countries, it might be non-technical losses; yet in others, it might be about efficiently operating the grid. There are also countries where a lot of people are required to maintain the grid and fix problems because of the non-measurability of the grid's status; whenever there is a problem, people need to drive around and look for it, which can take hours and lot of feet on the ground. This is not efficient.

(To read the full interview, visit www. megawhatme.com)

March2012

INTERVIEW solartalk

energyworld Straddling the solar value chain MAXINE GHAVI IS GROUP SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF SOLAR INDUSTRY SECTOR INITIATIVE AT ABB SINCE MAY 2011. SHE HAS MORE THAN 20+ YEARS EXPERIENCE ACROSS FUNCTIONS RANGING FROM BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING TO PRODUCT MANAGEMENT AND SALES OPERATIONS. MAXINE HAS ALSO WORKED IN A VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES FROM SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC TO SEMICONDUCTOR CAPITAL EQUIPMENT TO BROADBAND ACCESS. PRIOR TO JOINING ABB, SHE WAS HEAD OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AT OERLIKON SOLAR IN SWITZERLAND. IN AN E-MAIL INTERVIEW, MAXINE OUTLINED ABB’S COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATORS AND COMPETENCIES, SYNERGIES WITH OTHER ABB BUSINESSES, NOTABLE PROJECTS AND PRODUCTS, AND FUTURE DIRECTION OF THE SOLAR INDUSTRY.

In your opinion, what are the notable differentiators of ABB's solar offerings? Could you also comment on the extent to which your solar business draws its strengths from ABB's existing conventional power business?

BB is well diversified and provides products and solutions along the entire solar value chain. In addition to our offering in the PV space, with our recent investments in Novatec Solar, a leading provider of Linear Fresnel CSP technology, and GreenVolts, which supplies turnkey concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems, our presence in the solar sector is strengthened and we are in a unique position to make available the most applicable solution based on the customer needs. In regions such as the Middle East all three solar technologies; PV, CSP and CPV; are especially relevant, therefore ABB can assess and match the solution to the requirements. With our competency at the product, system and solution levels we can bring a great deal of knowledge to the customer for maximum optimisation. ABB’s solar business has great synergy with our other businesses and has been able to leverage our long standing relationships with power companies, utilities and channel players.These customers know ABB and our track

March2012

record of successful delivery and execution very well. There is a certain level of comfort that comes with this established history especially in a market that is somewhat volatile. We are also able to draw on the technology knowhow from other businesses. For example, although our central inverters are new to the solar market, we have delivered more than 100 GW of the same platform in our power converter business.

What are the solar projects involving ABB that you are particularly proud of?

ome notable accomplishments include ABB’s successful delivery of 14 turnkey PV power plants in Italy alone in the space of just nine months (between December 2010 and August 2011). We are proud to report that 12 plants were completed ahead of schedule, and one 24 MW plant was built and commissioned within just five months. On the product side, ABB launched its central inverter, PVS800, on the Indian market right after the national solar policy was implemented and within a year more than 90 MW of capacity has been installed including two large projects at 15 MW and 17 MW.

How competitive are the different solar power technologies available in the market today? Are there any promising ones that ABB is betting on? How close is solar to becoming a mainstream energy resource?

olar is becoming more competitive with the mainstream energy sources as overall system prices decline. This is also reflected in the decrease of incentives globally in recent months. As a company, we concentrate on the best option for maximum optimisation for our customers. We will continue to focus strongly on technology development in the PV area where we have a

The solar inverter segment seems to be a sweet spot for ABB if one takes into consideration the order book in 2011. Could you tell us a bit more about that?

he inverter market is growing and we are growing with the market. Since the launch of our solar inverter products, we have had significant wins and entered new markets. ABB offers a comprehensive portfolio of solar inverters from small single phase string inverters to central inverters rated up to several hundred kilowatts. The portfolio is complemented with the megawatt station; a containerised turnkey solution designed for large-scale solar power generation. Our range of solar inverters is suitable for the small residential home system to multi-megawatt power stations.

What were the major highlights for your solar business in 2011? What are your priorities for 2012 in terms of business growth and technology development?

lthough we do not report revenue from across our entire company in the solar sector, we saw substantial growth in 2011 and anticipate our compound annual growth in the renewable business sector, which includes solar, to exceed 20% through 2015. Our individual businesses have been very successful with their solar related efforts. In addition, with the tremendous market opportunity ahead, in 2011 we established the Solar Industry Sector Initiative (ISI) within ABB to demonstrate further commitment to this market. ABBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solar business comes through multiple divisions; Power Systems, Power Products, Discrete Automation & Motion and Low-Voltage Products. The ISI is a marketing and business development function within ABB working closely with the divisions and across divisions to expand our focus on the rapidly evolving markets and bring to bear. As with other ISIs within ABB, this exists to drive new growth.

What are the biggest challenges facing the solar industry in the years ahead?

he challenges in the solar market also provide ABB with opportunities. ABB is a bankable company with great offering diversity across multiple industries as well as within the solar industry. Our ability to continue with investments in technology, product and services globally will be a key differentiator in the coming years. One of the biggest challenges in renewable energy development is the high initial cost of installation. For example, compared to the development of a coal-based power plant, the investment required for solar power-based plants is significantly higher. Proper system planning and integration is another important aspect. Knowing the decentralised nature of solar energy projects, the capacity and type of project is to be decided where availability of the energy source can be ensured. More demanding local grid codes are expected, and smarter solutions will be needed to integrate solar energy with other sources of distributed generation, and ABB is well positioned to support these developments. As a highly respected company with a solid track record in key areas, ABB is well positioned to address many of the challenges related to technology and feasibility in solar through innovation, investment and manufacturing excellence.

solartalk INTERVIEW

broad portfolio of products, systems and solutions including solar inverters, components for module tracking systems, low voltage components and accessories, equipment and solutions for solar module and cell manufacturing plants, and products connecting solar power plants to the grid. We also approach the market with full Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services and Electronic Balance of Plant (EBoP). Additionally, as reflected in our recent solar investments, we believe that key technologies such as CSP and CPV will co-exist in the market with PV as they each address different regional and application requirements. For example, in the Middle East, potential applications for CSP have extended to desalination, cooling, co-generation and enhanced oil recovery. The high direct normal irradiation available makes the region ideal for CPV installations where the technology can withstand very high temperatures without efficiency losses.

Is there anything about ABBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solar business that we haven't talked about and you would like to share with our readers?

olar is a competitive sector and has been particularly sensitive to macroeconomic uncertainties but we believe it will continue to grow. As ABB continues to expand further in solar, we are sharpening our focus of being a leading and committed supplier of products, systems and services. We are a global company with attention to local markets as we have demonstrated with our established presence in the Middle East. The regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy needs are set to grow with economic expansion and the Middle East can benefit from its abundant source of energy, the Sun.

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FEATURE thehub

insight

This plant in Stuttgart makes biogas out of waste from wholesale markets. (Photo by Fraunhofer IGB)

Fuel from market waste

rivers who fill up with natural gas instead of gasoline or diesel spend less on fuel and are more environmentally friendly. Natural gas is kinder on the wallet, and the exhaust emissions it produces contain less carbon dioxide and almost no soot particles. As a result, more and more motorists are converting their gasoline engines to run on natural gas. But just like oil, natural gas is also a fossil fuel, and reserves are limited. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have now developed an a way to obtain gas not from the Earth’s precious reserves of raw materials, but from fruit and vegetable waste generated by wholesale markets, university cafeterias and canteens. Fermenting this food waste produces methane, also known as biogas, which can be compressed into highpressure cylinders and used as fuel. In early 2012, the researchers will begin operating a pilot plant adjacent to Stuttgart’s wholesale market. The facility uses various microorganisms to generate sought-after methane from the food waste in a two-stage digestion process that lasts just a few days. “The waste contains a lot of water and has very low lignocellulose content, so it’s highly suitable for rapid fermentation,” said Dr.-Ing. Ursula Schließmann, head of department at the IGB. But it still presents a challenge, because its precise composition varies every day. Sometimes it has a high proportion of citrus fruits, while other times there are more cherries, plums and lettuce. On days with a higher citrus fruit content, the researchers have to adjust the pH value through substrate management, because these fruits are very acidic. “We hold the waste in several storage tanks, where a number of parameters are automatically calculated – including the pH value,” she said. The specially designed management system determines exactly how many litres of waste from which containers should be mixed together and fed to the

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microorganisms,” explained Schließmann. It is vital that a correct balance be maintained in the plant at all times, because the various microorganisms require constant environmental conditions to do their job. Another advantage of the new plant lies in the fact that absolutely everything it generates can be utilised; the biogas, the liquid filtrate, and even the sludgy residue that cannot be broken down any further. A second sub-project in Reutlingen comes into its own here, involving the cultivation of algae. When the algae in question are provided with an adequate culture medium, as well as carbon dioxide and sunlight, they produce oil in their cells that can be used to power diesel engines. The filtrate water from the biogas plant in Stuttgart contains sufficient nitrogen and phosphorus to be used as a culture medium for these algae, and the reactor facility also provides the researchers with the carbon dioxide that the algae need in order to grow; while the desired methane makes up around two thirds of the biogas produced there, some 30% of it is carbon dioxide. With these products put to good use, all that is left of the original market waste is the sludgy fermentation residue, which is itself converted into methane by colleagues at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland and at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Others involved in this network project, which goes by the name of ETAMAX, include energy company EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg and Daimler AG. The former uses membranes to process the biogas generated in the market-place plant, while the latter supplies a number of experimental vehicles designed to run on natural gas. The five-year project is funded to the tune of €six million by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). If all the different components mesh together as intended, it is possible that similar plants could in future spring up wherever large quantities of organic waste are to be found. Other project partners are the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising, FairEnergie, Netzsch Mohnopumpen, Stulz Wasser- und Prozesstechnik, Subitec und the town Stuttgart.

Fact or fiction: Supernova energy

Tool developed to appraise solar PV power systems

onsistent appraisals of homes and businesses outfitted with photovoltaic (PV) installations are a real challenge for the nation’s real estate industry, but a new tool developed by Sandia National Laboratories and Solar Power Electric and licensed by Sandia hopes to address that issue. Sandia scientists, in partnership with Jamie Johnson of Solar Power Electric, have developed PV Value, an electronic form to standardise appraisals. Funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the tool will provide appraisers, real estate agents and mortgage underwriters with more accurate values for PV systems. “Previous methods for appraising PV installations on new or existing construction have been challenging

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thehub FEATURE

witzerland-based Institute for Space Quantum Physics (ISQP) & Space Quantum Research (ISQR) hope to launch their first Supernovae Energy Unit by 2013. Hans Lehner, President, Supernova Energy, who was promoting the new technology at the recently concluded World Future Energy Summit (2012), explained that the heart of this new technology is a multi-stage electromagnet system which works with the space quanta medium or dark matter like a miniature ring accelerator producing current with electromagnetic atomic resonance coupling. Supernova Energy is the financing and equity investment company for this new energy project. There are over 86,400 Supernovae explosions per day in the observable universe or approximately one Supernovae explosion per second. This is the so-called dark energy, which is transmitted by the dark matter. The Supernovae energy is distributed throughout the entire universe (by the Space Quantum Medium (SQM) discovered by Oliver Crane in 1990) and is responsible for the tremendous wave energy present in all atomic nuclei on earth. For the new energy technology, atomic nuclei need not be split or fused. Also, no radioactive materials are used. Star explosions as the largest cosmic energy source in the universe was ostensibly discovered by ISQP/ISQR in 1998. Lehner pointed out that the two key advantages of this technology are cost of energy well below €0.10 (ca. 13 cents) per kWh and decentralised self sufficient energy supply. The energy unit can supply all the electrical energy for a single-family house. He promises the first Supernovae Energy continuous current units with 5-25 kW output power to be delivered in 2013.

because they were not using standard appraisal practices,” said Geoff Klise, the Sandia researcher who co-developed the tool. “Typically, appraisers develop the value of a property improvement based on comparable properties with similar improvements as well as prevailing market conditions. If there aren’t PV systems nearby, there is no way to make an improvement comparison. When a PV system is undervalued or not valued at all, it essentially ignores the value of the electricity being produced and the potential savings over the lifetime of the system. By developing a standard methodology for appraisers when comparables are not available, homeowners will have more incentive to install PV systems, even if they consider moving a few years after system installation.” The tool uses an Excel spreadsheet, tied to real-time lending information and market fluctuations, to determine the worth of a PV system. An appraiser enters such variables as the ZIP code where the system is located, the system size in watts, the derate factor – which takes into account shading and other factors that affect a system’s output – tracking, tilt and azimuth, along with a few other factors, and the spreadsheet returns the value of the system as a function of a pre-determined risk spread. The solar resource calculation in the spreadsheet is based on the PVWatts simulator developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which allows the spreadsheet to value a PV system anywhere in the US. “With PV Value, appraisers can quickly calculate the present value of energy that a PV system can be estimated to produce during its remaining useful lifetime, similar to the appraisal industry’s income approach,” said Johnson. “Additionally, a property owner thinking about installing PV can now estimate the remaining present value of energy for their future PV system and what it could be worth to a purchaser of their property at any point in time in the event a sale of the property takes place before the estimated payback date is reached.” The tool is being embraced by the Appraisal Institute, which is the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers. “From my perspective as an appraiser, I see that this is a great tool to assist the appraiser in valuations, and it connects to the Appraisal Institute’s recent Residential Green and Energy Efficient Addendum. It’s an easy, user-friendly spreadsheet that will not bog the appraiser down with a lot of extra time in calculations, and if they fill out the addenda properly, they’ll be able to make the inputs and come up with some numbers fairly quickly,” said Sandy Adomatis, SRA, a real estate appraiser and member of the Appraisal Institute. Although the tool is licensed for solar PV installations, it could be used for other large green features in a home that generate income, such as wind turbines. The spreadsheet, user manual and webinar explaining the tool are available for download at http://pv.sandia.gov/pvvalue

FEATURE coverstory

utilities

Smart Meters: The ground reality THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE AND THE CONSUMERS’ ASSOCIATION WERE RIGHT TO RAISE THE ISSUE OF THE COST OF ‘SMART’ ELECTRICITY METERS, BUT BY NOT STRIPPING AWAY THE MISINFORMATION THAT SURROUNDS SMART METERS, IT FAILS TO IDENTIFY TWO ISSUES THAT, IN THE LONG-TERM, ARE POTENTIALLY OF GREATER SIGNIFICANCE: THEIR IMPACT ON LOW-INCOME AND VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSUMER COMPETITION BETWEEN ELECTRICITY SUPPLIERS.

hat makes a smart meter different to other meters is that they are connected at all times to a central data collection point that not only allows consumption to be continuously recorded, but also allows electricity suppliers to send information in the opposite direction, for example, changing the electricity price whenever they like, so-called time-of-day pricing. All the other claimed benefits of smart meters, that they will do away with site meter readings and estimated bills, and that they allow consumers to monitor more carefully their consumption do not require smart meters and could be achieved by much simpler and almost certainly cheaper means. The rationale for time-of-day pricing is that electricity demand is uneven and meeting demand peaks, which might need a power station to be started up to operate for only an hour, is expensive. If demand peaks could be shifted an hour or two to the next demand trough by delaying use of an appliance or peak demand destroyed by simply encouraging consumers to switch off appliances, there would be significant savings. Smart meters do already work well in industry, where companies are often happy to change their demand patterns in return for a share of the savings made by shifting demand. The much higher electricity bills paid by industry mean the cost of the meter is a much smaller proportion of the overall electricity bill. However, for households, destroying demand rather than shifting it is likely to be the major contribution of smart meters. When smart meters are talked about, the example always given is that consumers would be able to do their washing in the middle of the night at much lower cost. The reason this example is always used is that washing

March2012

STEVE THOMAS, PROFESSOR OF ENERGY STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH, WRITES ON THE ISSUE OF THE COST OF ‘SMART’ ELECTRICITY METRES IN THE UK, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR IMPACT ON LOW-INCOME AND VULNERABLE HOUSEHOLDS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSUMER COMPETITION BETWEEN ELECTRICITY SUPPLIERS.

machines and dishwashers are the two major applications where demand could actually be shifted. Whether consumers would be happy to have their sleep disturbed in the middle of the night by their washing machine kicking into action just to save a few pence on their electricity bill is not clear.

Two issues The first problems that arise are how do we know when the cost of meeting electricity demand could be significantly cut by reducing demand and what marker should be used to set the time-of-day consumer price? The obvious answer is the wholesale electricity price. However, despite more than 20 years of effort in Britain trying to make the wholesale electricity market work, the liquidity of the market traded at visible prices is very small, at most 1-2 per cent. The rest is traded via confidential, usually long-term contracts, at prices that bear no relationship to the spot market and are known only to the two parties to the contract. Relating the consumer price to such an unreliable price as the spot price in a market that the companies have already been found to have manipulated would be an open invitation to the electricity companies to game the market by boosting the spot price and hence their income from consumers.

THE ISSUE OF WELFARE CONCERNS THE EXTENT OF PRICE SIGNALS NEEDED TO GET A RESPONSE FROM CONSUMERS.

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The second issue concerns consumer competition. At present, the regulator and the government continually encourage consumers to switch electricity supplier frequently so they are always with the cheapest offer. But the information needed to do this is not perfect. We know what the companies charged yesterday, but not what they will charge tomorrow, which is what we really need to know, especially in times when prices change three or four times a year. But at least we have some price information. With timeof-day pricing, consumers will not know the electricity charge until the moment of consumption, so what basis do they have for choosing between suppliers? The issue of welfare concerns the extent of price signals needed to get a response from consumers. The level of prices would have to be high to make people change their consumption. How many people would turn off their favourite television programme or delay running the dishwasher or put off their evening meal till 10 pm just to save a few pence? However, if consumers saw a price of ÂŁ1/kWh, they might. But what would low-income or vulnerable households do if they saw ÂŁ1/kWh on their meter on a cold winter evening when they need electricity to survive. Some would turn everything off jeopardising their health while some would just continue to consume running up a bill that they could not afford, putting new demands on the social security system.

Managing peaks The problem of the cost of meeting peak demands is real, albeit significantly overstated. The last power station needed to meet a peak in demand might be very expensive to run, but when the costs are averaged over the whole of consumption, the increase in overall costs is quite small. It is because we have adopted a commodities model for the electricity market under which all those contributing to meeting electricity demand should be paid the amount paid to the most expensive producer that the cost of meeting peaks seems so high. Nevertheless, as the contribution to the electricity system of intermittent sources such as wind power increases, the pay-off from being able to influence demand will increase so is there a way in which smart meters could be used in a more acceptable way? Two years ago, the government and the electricity regulator belatedly acknowledged that the efforts to make the wholesale electricity market work were doomed to failure. The proposals as to what will replace the market are still being developed under the Energy Market Reforms (EMR) proposals. However, it is clear that we will move to a planned system under which new plants will be contracted to some central entity so that the amount of power bought and sold in the market, either the spot market or the contracts market, will wither away leaving the spot market

March2012

utilities FEATURE coverstory

SMART METERS WOULD COST AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE MORE AND IF COSTS WERE NOT CONTROLLED BETTER, THE BILL FOR CONSUMERS WOULD BE COMPARABLE TO THE BILL FOR BAILING OUT THE BANKS.

as explicitly what it has always implicitly been, a shortterm marginal mechanism to balance supply and demand with little relevance to the price of electricity. As this process proceeds, the basis for retail competition will be whittled away. Retailers will not be able to compete on their skills in buying wholesale power because they will increasingly be buying from a central entity, the charges for using the network are the same for all companies and with smart meters, they will not even be able to compete on their efficiency in reading meters. If the sacred cow of consumer choice was abandoned and retail electricity supply went back to being a regulated monopoly, would this provide an acceptable role for smart meters? The introduction of a planned generation system would mean that consumers would know peaks in wholesale prices reflected real costs, not just manipulation by the companies. Replacing retail competition with rigorously regulated tariffs would remove the suspicion that savings from smart meters would go to the companies as extra profits rather than to consumers. However, the issue of how to protect low-income and vulnerable consumers from the fear that high prices would cause would remain, but in a monopoly system, it would be possible to identify such consumers and keep them on standard fixed tariffs.

Footing the costs However, going back to a more regulated system would not get over the issue of cost of smart meters. The estimated cost of installing smart meters in all households

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is £12 billion, so consumers would have to save, on average, about £500 per household to pay for the meters. These huge costs come not from the meters, which are little if any more expensive than other meters, but from the physical connection to the data point and the cost of processing the mass of data the meters produce. Past experience of major IT systems in the electricity industry for systems like the wholesale market and the retail market is not good. Both came in at three or four times the forecast cost at about £1 billion each. Smart meters would cost an order of magnitude more and if costs were not controlled better, the bill for consumers would be comparable to the bill for bailing out the banks. It is notable that those pushing hardest for these meters, the government and the electricity companies, are not willing to risk any of their money on the project although they will not be averse to capturing the benefits. If the regulator required that the cost of any over-runs or any failure to produce the benefits expected were to fall on the electricity companies or the government, smart meters would be forgotten overnight. Getting out of this mess will require huge political courage. Government has already had to acknowledge, albeit very quietly, that the attempt to create a wholesale electricity market has failed. Admitting that retail competition was also a waste of money and that smart meters for small consumers will not deliver the benefits promised will be even more humiliating. The government will also have to persuade the European Commission, which has mandated the introduction of smart meters. The route through this may be tackling fuel poverty – households spending more than 10% of their income on heat and power. This has reached the shameful level of about a quarter of all households in Britain and with energy prices expected to continue to rise, this problem is going to get worse. If instead of spending £500 per household on a device of such dubious value, we spent, say, £2000 on the houses of those suffering from fuel poverty, we could get a double benefit of reducing energy demand and solving once and for all a major part of the problem of fuel poverty.

utilities LESSONS LEARNED FROM SUCCESSFUL AND NOTSO-SUCCESSFUL SMART METER ROLL OUTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

uropean Union’s (EU) much publicised 20/20/20 programme aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 20%, achieve 20% energy efficiency and derive at least 20% of energy consumption from renewable sources. The energy policy has also been an important catalyst for the introduction of smart meters in Europe as they are seen a crucial enabler for achieving the target of 20% reduction in energy consumption. The foundations for rolling out smart meters in Europe were laid down in a 2006 EU directive on energy end-use efficiency and energy service. Directive 2006/32 called upon member countries to take steps to improve energy efficiency, with smart meters proposed as one of the measures; but further on, gas and electricity directives of the third energy package, adopted in 2009, require member states to prepare a timetable for the introduction of intelligent metering systems, with 80% of electricity consumers to be connected to smart metering systems by 2020. Mark Ossel, Vice President of Energy and Utility at Echelon pointed out that these directives seek to ensure that consumer is billed on actual usage rather than guesstimates as used to be the case. In order to change their consumption behaviour, consumers require information and transparency: unless they know how much energy they are consuming, when they are consuming it, and how much it costs, it will be almost impossible for them to conserve energy or shift consumption in any significant way. Ossel pointed out that while there is a lot of talk about smart meter projects in Europe, the reality is quite the opposite with only a handful of member countries managing to pull off significant roll outs. Ossel should know because he also wears the hat of board member and treasurer of the Energy Services Network Association (ESNA), which promotes the adoption of open Smart Metering and Smart Grid architecture, services and infrastructure. He continued: “The penetration of smart meters is nearly 100% in Italy and Sweden. Others countries have rolled out implementation programmes, but political debates on privacy and security have slowed down the implementation speed.” But Ossel also feels that privacy and security aren’t as serious a problem today as made out to be. He said, “In Europe, consumer organisations are very much involved in the privacy debate. The smart meters available today are safe; they have encryption, authentication, so it is not a non-secure environment. People fear what they don’t understand, so you need to explain these aspects to them.”

Slow roll outs Larger member countries of the EU like France, Spain, UK and Germany are unable to carry out large scale deployments of smart meters for different reasons. In the UK and Germany, the market model is a major hurdle with retailer responsible for the meter. Ossel said: “The ideal model is one where the Distribution Network Operators (DNO) own the meter because they will use it as a sensor for smart grid management. The retailer’s interest in smart grid is very low because decreasing energy use will affect their revenues and profit.” In Germany, security requirements have also proved to be another stumbling block. In some cases, the utilities convinced themselves that the right technology is not available and tried to develop their own systems, which too slowed down roll outs. Ossel pointed out that utilities within member countries tend to have different cultures. The laggards implement smart metering only if it is really enforced, whereas the early adopters move in once convinced about the benefits. Some utilities have even gone on to claim that their grid is so good that smart meters are not needed, which Ossel opined, is utter nonsense as utilities, whether in Europe or the Middle East, aren’t really ready to manage distributed generation or the loads that electrical vehicles can impose. He continued: “Hypothetically speaking, if in an area of the city, where the average income is higher than normal, someone buys a electric car as the second car, very soon we may see more than 50% of the homes in that area having an electrical car. If that happens and everybody recharges at the same time, the chances are the substation will blow up. The existing grid is not capable of managing such loads.”

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Metering blues

THE IDEAL MODEL IS ONE WHERE THE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK OPERATORS (DNO) OWN THE METER BECAUSE THEY WILL USE IT AS A SENSOR FOR SMART GRID MANAGEMENT March2012

utilities FEATURE coverstory

Multiple standards

There are two EC mandates governing standardisation - Mandates M/441 for smart meters and M/490 for smart grid. “EC wanted a single European smart meter standard. But it became clear after discussions there will not be a single standard partly due to emotional reasons and partly due to technical reasons,” said Ossel. He pointed out that not every utility has the same market model, not every utility has the same vision; while some believe there is an issue with low voltage grid management, others don’t; again, some are multi-utilities doing gas and water while some are big enough to define their own standards, like for example, EDF. Thus, for various legal, business model and ego-related reasons, Europe seems to be headed for multiple standards. But is that a good idea? Ossel likes to think that such a scenario is actually good for everyone. His prescription: the utility should ensure that its smart meter and smart grid architecture are open enough to incorporate new standards as and when they are announced because technology standards come and go all the time, best exemplified by the Information Technology (IT) industry. “There is no standard that has been there for 20 years in the IT industry and not been superseded by something faster, cheaper and better,” said Ossel. “One should avoid getting locked into a specific standard or technology or vendor.” The smart grid communication standard, for example, is very heterogeneous. “OSGP or Open Smart Grid Protocol is the most widely used in Europe; for homes, the same would be OSGP, LonWorks or ZigBee, while in Substations, it is IEC 61850,” explained Ossel. “There are lots of interesting protocols, but the main challenge is to make them all work together. In an open world, someone can implement a new protocol or a new environment and still make the connection. For example, 20 years ago, in IT, you had debates on standards like FAT on the server, the operating systems; today, when you visit a website, it doesn’t matter how it runs or whether the disk is connected.” Also, the M/204 mandate for the elaboration and adoption of measurement standards for household water heater and hot-water storage appliances indirectly enforce smart metering as the consumer should know what he is using. Further, under the Commission's new Energy Efficiency Directive, member states have to ensure that final customers of electricity, natural gas, district heating or cooling and district-supplied domestic hot water are provided with individual meters that accurately measure and make available their actual energy consumption and provide information on actual time of use. Customers also get free-of-charge access to real-time and historical data of their energy consumption. “You need to provide a lot of information to the consumer so that he can raise his awareness regarding energy usage,” explained Ossel.

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“This has significant impact on systems as you need to store a lot of data, which to some extent conflicts with privacy aspect. The other alternative is to provide the data locally from the meter to the consumer instead of collecting and storing it centrally.” Where the DNOs are responsible for smart meter roll outs, in terms of technology structure, the low voltage substation centric approach is the dominant model. The substation collects smart meter data through power line communication. The data which needs to be collected centrally will go through an IP-based WAN network, based on GSM/GPRS, Ethernet or WIMAX to the Head-end for device and communication management, which will then pass the data to the DNO for applications like outage management, distribution management and to the retailers for billing.

Ossel’s takeaways: • Think of smart metering as a foundation for smart grid. • Distributed generation will become a reality sooner than later and that requires management of the LV grid. • LV substation centric architecture: The LV grid today, in most cases, is like a black hole - you don’t know what is happening. Ensure you get inside not only to measure but control it as well. • Power line is the ideal for communication format between devices in the LV grid and the substation, not GPRS because by design, the latter moves data to the centre not the transformer. •The business case for smart meter: Better asset management, cash collection, distribution grid management. • Go for proven technology/systems, installed, running at multiple utilities and countries, and in volumes. • Procure a system, not components where one prime contractor is responsible for the end results based on Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

(This article is based a presentation on European Initiatives on Smart Metering by Mark Ossel at the Middle East Electricity 2012, Dubai)

powerplay FEATURE

Powers of construction THE GCC WILL REQUIRE AN ADDITIONAL 100 GW OF POWER OVER THE COMING DECADE AS DEMAND INCREASES 58% ON 2006 LEVELS. CURRENT FOSSIL FUEL CONSUMPTION RATES HAVE CATAPULTED ALL SIX GCC COUNTRIES TO THE TOP 25 LIST OF POLLUTERS IN THE WORLD, AND THE NEEDS OF BURGEONING POPULATION AND INDUSTRY WILL FEED REQUIREMENTS FURTHER. MELANIE MINGAS INVESTIGATES THE VIABILITY OF ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE REGION

uring his key note address at the World Future Energy Summit, Ban Ki Moon, UN secretary general made two bold pledges; not only does he want to end the worldwide fuel poverty that sees one in five of the world’s population without access to electricity, but he also wants to achieve ‘sustainable energy for all’ by 2030.Requiring actions from governments, the private sector and general public, the aim could see the use of fossil fuels dramatically reduced years ahead of earlier predictions. In its place, a whole new generation of power plants will be required to harness solar, geothermal, wind, hydro and even nuclear power sources. While the construction of a number of ‘traditional’ substations continues – some areas still achieving firsts in such projects, such as Kuwait’s first 300/400 kV substation in Sulaibiya district – other projects are gaining pace. The plans also align with Vision 2050 Arabia; a sustainability initiative to ensure ‘humanity can live well and within the limits of the planet’, under an 18 month programme to identify and tackle the challenges surrounding such a shift. It is estimated the power sector will require investments

to the value of $50 billion, in order to meet demand and a further $20 billion for desalination projects. Coinciding with WFES, the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) announced the launch of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park; its flagship project to be managed and operated by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), a first of its kind in the region. At a cost of $3.3 billion, the photovoltaic park will be capable of producing 10 MW of power by 2013 and 1,000 MW upon full completion. Despite the scale of the project, at full capacity – expected by 2030 – it will still only meet five per cent of Dubai’s energy needs. From 2020, the panels will only produce enough energy to meet one per cent of the Emirate’s requirements. “Although the targets to overall energy production appear negligible, this is actually not the case as energy consumption per capita by 2030 will be two or three times of what it is today; so the production capacity will actually reflect an estimated 1,000 MW on completion,” explained Goktug Gur, country president for the UAE and Oman, for Schneider Electric, who praises the wider MENA region as “doing good work” to diversify energy sources.

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FEATURE powerplay Combined with the energy mix set out in Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, the share contributed by solar energy will be supported by a 12% generation from nuclear power and 12% from ‘clean coal’, with gas providing the remainder. Significant modifications will have to be made to the electricity grid before the panels can contribute more to the Emirate. This year, 44 new power and water projects will begin in the GCC, reaching estimated values of $31.9 billion. Of these, the most talkedabout on the world stage is the UAE’s nuclear projects. In total, four plants will be constructed, with the final one coming online by 2020. With the first phase of tenders announced in recent months for the construction of workers’ accommodation, Abu Dhabi will be the first Emirate to have a nuclear facility online, with a deadline set for 2017. The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) has awarded the contract to a consortium headed by Koren Electric Power Corporation

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(KEPCO), the third largest nuclear energy company in the world. According to ENEC, the entire contract, including training , HR and education programmes, is worth $20 billion. The plants will use APR 1400 nuclear reactors, featuring ‘advanced design features’,’ evolutionary design’, and ‘competitive’ power generation, according to the manufacturers. In development since 1992, the reactor received standard design certification in May 2002. Under a remit to achieve ‘competitive’ power generation, the APR1400 works on economics of scale and design improvements to save costs during construction and operation. The technology requires 11% less concrete; 15% less rebar; and 26% less pipe. Excavation work on the first APR reactor, at Shin-Kori, Korea, began in January 2008 with the reactor online and operating commercially in September 2013. The UAE isn’t the only GCC country to be talking

about nuclear energy. With Qatar the only country possessing the required resources to meet energy needs from indigenous gas reserves, nuclear power is increasingly likely to play a larger role in the meeting the energy needs of all GCC countries. Even Saudi Arabia has earmarked massive budgets rumoured to top $100 billion in order to build 16 nuclear energy plants over the “next few years”, according to reports in the regional media. “Apart from Abu Dhabi’s nuclear plant and Dubai’s solar plant, wind power is also being effectively pursued with North Africa and Morocco in particular leading the way,” observed Gur. Schneider Electric recently signed MoU papers with MASEN (Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy) for a project that will create a concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) segment to serve domestic needs as well as generate exports of electricity in Morocco. Schneider also won the large corporation’s category in the World Future Energy Prize, awarded during WFES. “Overall, the combination of investment in renewables and significant reserves of natural resources will ensure a sustainable energy future for the Middle East,” Gur added.

Is the future bright? “During WFES there were many examples of Middle Eastern countries and cities setting a leading example in the world, for diversifying energy sources. However, more attention needs to be paid to making these sources more affordable, by reducing consumer demand,” asserts Colin Calder, CEO for UK PV supplier PassivSystems.

“Efficiency has historically been associated with cold northern countries seeking to cut down heating costs, but air conditioning presents an equally great opportunity for savings,” Calder added. Once again, in terms of supplying the necessary technology, China could dominate due in large parts to government subsidies. Providing low-cost loans in order to build a strong manufacturing base for Chinese PV panels, Dr Sood from American-based development company Magnolia Star, believes it will become increasingly difficult to compete with the manufacturing superpower, when procuring the equipment necessary to produce solar power.

YOUR ONE-STOP GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION... The Big Project is the Middle East’s leading monthly B2B magazine for the construction industry.

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Region-leading While the UAE has the highest value power projects of the GCC, with 11 separate developments totalling $10 billion, and Saudi Arabia comes a close second, it is Oman that will see construction begin on six new projects this year. In October last year it was announced that a gas-fired power plant would be constructed in Salalah city, which will also benefit from a new desalination plant, providing 15 million gallons of water. A second power plant in Sohar will produce 750 MW upon completion, due 2013 and a third project, Barka power plant, will produce 750 MW at the start if commercial operations in 2013. “To extract maximum value from renewables requires a detailed understanding of when energy is being used and for what; how much is being wasted and what policies are required to balance intermittency of supply with efficient measures and energy storage in residential homes,” asserts Calder. “Rising energy prices in Dubai for example, have already seen consumers cutting down on their usage, so there is a good basis for formalising energy-efficiency and grid-balancing policies in this case,” he noted.

(Article courtesy: The Big Project)

CONTACT DETAILS Associate publisher Liam Williams liam@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9158

Editor Melanie Mingas melanie@cpidubai.com TEL: +971 (0)4 440 9117 GSM: +971 (0)56 758 7834

FEATURE powerplay

turbineinletcooling PETER VAN DER HAM OF APINA MAKES A CASE FOR IMPLEMENTING TURBINE INLET AIR COOLING (TIAC) WITH THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE (TES) TO DEAL WITH POWER DEMAND SPIKES IN THE SUMMER

TIAC implemented on GE 7EA combustion turbine.

Cooling the summer peak load

few months ago, a website on power generation in the GCC carried the following poll: As temperatures cool, how can we best plan for next summerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peak load? a. More rental power generation. b. Speeding up development of new power plants. c. Better public awareness of rationalising power usage. d. More efficient appliances. While options c & d focus on the root cause of the summer peak load, options a & b highlight the typical measures resorted to cope with the summer peak load. But the poll, in my opinion, missed out an important measure to meet the summer peak power demand, namely, the implementation of Turbine Inlet Air Cooling (TIAC) systems, and in particular, the implementation of TIAC with Thermal Energy Storage (TES). As TIAC has been covered extensively in the recent past, I will assume that the benefits of cooling the inlet air in combustion turbines are known to most readers. With combustion turbines, the climate determines the power output to a great extent. The main objective of

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TIAC is to recover the lost turbine output at high ambient (summer) temperatures and increase operating efficiency (lower the heat rate). A direct side benefit of TIAC implementation is the reduction of NOx and COÂ˛ emissions. Moreover, a TIAC system costs only a fraction of the option of adding additional gas turbines and can be realised much faster (in most cases in only half of the time). Therefore, the implementation of TIAC systems should be seriously considered for summer peak load planning. In general, TIAC technology is discussed in terms of evaporative and chiller-based systems. The benefits of evaporative TIAC systems are limited by wet-bulb temperature and have higher operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. This article will focus on chiller-based TIAC systems in combination with TES (TESTIAC)

Peak profile In the Gulf region, the demand for power peaks during the hottest hours of the day. Unfortunately, the output of combustion turbines during these hours dips at the same time due to a high inlet air temperature, which creates a gap in power demand and

supply during certain hours of the day in summer. Cooling of the inlet air to the combustion turbine during these hours can restore its power output to the nominal rated output. To deal with the common peak load profile, APINA has developed TESTIAC technology, which combines TIAC and TES systems. A key benefit is that the TIAC system does not have to be sized for the maximum instant cooling requirement during the peak hours; rather, the sizing can be reduced by adding a TES system which will be charged with cooling energy outside peak hours and discharged during the peak hours to cool the inlet air. Operating the refrigeration plant outside peak hours will augment the power of the combustion turbines to the maximum as the parasitic power consumption of the TESTIAC system is deferred to off peak hours. Further, this parasitic power consumption will be minimised as the heat can be rejected to the ambient during the cooler part of the day. An additional advantage of a TESTIAC system is the use of the system as power plant spinning reserve. TES systems can be based on ice storage or stratified water storage with the latter regarded

turbineinletcooling

as the most cost effective solution for the Gulf region. TESTIAC can be implemented in existing power plants, but will be most feasible in new power plants where cost savings can be realised at the planning stage through optimised layout and integration into the power plant design.

Not just another cooling system Interestingly, suppliers of cooling systems are also entering the market for these specialised applications. The moot question is whether these cooling suppliers understand the different applications and possess the required expertise. Moreover, a TIAC solution provider, in my opinion, should be able to guarantee the TIAC performance (inlet air temperature, air pressure drop, parasitic load consumption etc.) at fixed reference site conditions (RSC) and also to time varying climatic conditions on yearly basis (off-design performance), which is a the key factor when it comes to the payback period of the investment. Value engineering will optimise the off-design performance of the TIAC or TESTIAC system

and the capability of the system to adapt to these time varying climatic conditions continuously. The system should be able to operate at variable temperatures so as to guarantee a certain inlet air temperature at lowest parasitic power consumption and thus, provide maximum power augmentation. Designing the most appropriate TIAC or TESTIAC system for each situation requires painstaking evaluation of the specific conditions. Parameters which have to be studied include for example the demand curve and duration of the peak demand if any, combustion turbine curves, residual thermal energy availability, historical climatic conditions on hourly basis. Design choices of the TIAC or TESTIAC system should be made in early design stage with support of a qualified TIAC solution provider. Especially, the design of the finned heat exchanger section to be installed into the turbine filter house is an important factor of total design. In fact, design and supply should be part of the TIAC or TESTIAC solution in order to guarantee full performance. Further expertise is required for total review of impact of TIAC

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TESTIAC with stratified water storage technology.

DESIGNING THE MOST APPROPRIATE TIAC OR TESTIAC SYSTEM FOR EACH SITUATION REQUIRES PAINSTAKING EVALUATION OF THE SPECIFIC CONDITIONS.

implementation on the total combustion turbine system including generator, transformer and other auxiliaries. Poor design can not only damage the turbine but will not achieve the expected performance, especially during off-design conditions Recently, APINA was contacted by a client who had a chiller-based TIAC system but the parasitic power consumption was much higher than expected during off-design conditions which affected the payback. Unfortunately, at such a stage, it would be difficult and costly to improve the performance of the TIAC system. Such cases are unfortunate for the reputation of TIAC technology. The expertise of TIAC or TESTIAC solution providers with a proven track record, like APINA, would guarantee the best performance and thus, the best return on investment. To date, our TESTIAC systems are cooling the inlet air of over 65 combustion turbines in the Gulf region.

Humid versus dry Implementing TIAC or TESTIAC systems in a humid climate for power plants located near the coastline pose an extra challenge due to the

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FEATURE powerplay

turbineinletcooling

TIAC OR TESTIAC SYSTEM IS A FEASIBLE SOLUTION TO THE SUMMER PEAK LOAD PROBLEM PROVIDED THAT IT IS CORRECTLY DESIGNED AND IMPLEMENTED

Heavy industrial ammonia refrigeration plant inside the TIAC plant room.

corrosive atmosphere, which impacts materials and the completely different approach to the design of the finned heat exchanger section in the turbine filter house due to condensation on the surface of the finned heat exchanger. Although the risk of water droplets carry-over into the gas turbine bell mouth is higher with evaporative TIAC systems compared to chiller-based TIAC systems, there is still the risk of condensate droplets carry-over from the finned heat exchanger surface during operation in humid climatic conditions. Therefore, the design quality of the finned heat exchanger section with a correct face area and effective droplet catchers is crucial. A CFD simulation

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of the filterhouse with the incorporated finned heat exchanger section is a requirement for the correct design. Further, the condensate drainage design from the finned heat exchanger section needs special attention to manage the considerable condensate flow. Obviously humid ambient conditions increase the cost of the TIAC or TESTIAC system compared to locations with a hot and dry climate like Riyadh. However, their implementation in power plants located near the coast line is still feasible. An advantage is using seawater as the cooling source for the heat rejection of the TIAC or TESTIAC plant. Seawater cooling would also make absorption chillers

a feasible design choice if residual thermal energy is available. To conclude, a TIAC or TESTIAC system for power augmentation is a very feasible solution to the summer peak load problem provided that it is correctly designed and implemented as a total engineered solution by a specialised TIAC solution provider with proven track record.

(The author is Regional Commercial Manager at APINA Middle East. He may be contacted at p.ham@apina. com)

controlvalves

WHETHER THAT BRAND NEW CONTROL VALVE IN YOUR SYSTEM IS THE FIRST ONE YOU HAVE EVER HAD TO LOOK AFTER OR IF YOU ARE AN OLD HAND AT VALVE MAINTENANCE WITH TENS OF VALVES IN YOUR SYSTEM, THERE ARE A FEW SIMPLE GUIDELINES AND REMINDERS FOR KEEPING IT OPERATING AT OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE.

t’s important to physically check valves at least every 12 weeks or so, assuming everything is running fine in the system. This inspection is to check for any leaks in the tubing, check pressure gauges to ensure the valve is actually doing what it is supposed to and generally inspecting for anything that looks abnormal. If it is determined that something is wrong, always ensure you have the correct instruction manual for the valve. Today, many manufacturers have these available on their websites. As a note of caution, these valves are under pressure and care should be taken to bleed pressure off the valve before you start to take any valves apart. (For example, in a 6” valve with 100 psi in the line, there is at least 2,800 lbs of force trying to push that cover off the valve, so safety first! Regular maintenance will ensure your valve stays in good working order. Here are some simple tasks that you can perform:

Pilot system shut off ball valves Exercise the three isolating cocks on the main valve. These are located in front of the strainer on the upstream side of the valve, on the valve bonnet on top of the valve, and below the pressure-reducing pilot on the valve downstream. Giving the isolating cock a momentary quarter turn to the closed position, then returning it to the open position is sufficient. Open position is when the handle of the isolating cock is in-line with its body.

Air in the pilot system Air is your number one enemy in the pilot system as it will give false readings and cause poor valve operation. Bleed

MARK GIMSON, MARKETING MANAGER OF SINGER VALVE ON KEEPING YOUR CONTROL VALVES IN GOOD HEALTH

toolkit FEATURE

Maintenance primer

air from the valve bonnet. If the valve is equipped with a position indicator, on top of the position indicator is a bleed cock. Open the bleed cock slightly by turning the handle counter-clockwise. Otherwise, bleed the air from the high point of the valve. If the water runs clear, and no air bubbles are seen in the glass of the position indicator close the bleed cock. If air is present (the water will be foamy white) run the water until the air is gone.

Strainers Pilot systems rely on a supply of clean water, usually taken from the inlet of the valve. Either external or flush clean type strainers can be installed. If an external strainer is installed a simple occasional flush is a good idea. Normally three to five seconds is sufficient time to clean the strainer screen. Experience will dictate if it needs to be flushed longer than this, but it is unlikely in a municipal system. A number of water utilities install a ball valve on the flushing plug of the strainer, allowing operators to give a short flush every time they are in the valve station. (This certainly helps to eliminate disaster as a plugged strainer causes a valve to remain open.)

Reducing pilot Ensuring the control valve pilot is still operational, is a simple task. As a cautionary note – before you make any pressure adjustment, ensure that this is acceptable for the system and any SCADA alarm controls that may be triggered by a change in pressure, are turned off. To exercise the pressurereducing pilot, loosen the lock nut on the pilot adjusting screw and turn clockwise to increase the pressure five-psi above the normal set point. Check that the downstream

March2012

FEATURE toolkit

toolkit

pressure gauge is tracking the adjustments you are making. Then turn the adjusting screw counter-clockwise to reduce the pressure to five-psi below the set point. Does the pressure gauge track this also? Finally, turn the adjusting screw clockwise to increase the pressure back to the original set point, and tighten the lock nut. If for some reason the pressure gauge is not moving as you adjust the screw, you either have a bad gauge or a pilot that needs looking at.

Main valve flows Just like we all like to take our cars out for an occasional run to give them a good workout, the valves also need to see some decent flow occasionally. During a major fire, is not a good time to find out your main valve will not open fully. First get some flow through the valve station to open the peak demand/fire-flow valve. (This could be as simple as opening a hydrant on the outside of the valve station). If you have stations or vaults that have two valves in parallel, with one valve handling normal flow and the other valve handling large or fire flows, the larger valve should be operated for a minimum of five minutes. This can be done by closing the isolating cock on the downstream side of the smaller valve pilot system (the cock below the pressurereducing pilot). This will close the smaller valve and cause the larger valve to open and allow flow into the system. The above four steps can be followed for the larger valve while it is in the flowing mode. This is also a good time to ensure the main line control isolating valves are in good working order. The gate or butterfly valves used to isolate the control valve should also be checked to ensure they are operational if they are needed. By following this simple routine your valves should give years of trouble free service. Of course, such variables as pressures, operational use, water quality (hardness, TDS etc.) all have an effect on the periods between major valve overhauls.

March2012

JUST LIKE WE ALL LIKE TO TAKE OUR CARS OUT FOR AN OCCASIONAL RUN TO GIVE THEM A GOOD WORKOUT, THE VALVES ALSO NEED TO SEE SOME DECENT FLOW OCCASIONALLY.

Ofﬁcial Partners

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s Regulatory frameworks revealed: Get a country by country guide to the ever changing MENA solar landscape & maximize government support mechanisms in 2012 s CSP Technology roadmap: Trough or tower? Dispatchable power? Cost out your CSP options & accelerate your projects success s PV technology roadmap: Adaptable thin ﬁlm, reliable crystalline silicon, or scalable CPV? Choose the right technology for desert conditions & variability to get the best ROI s Fix your ﬁnances: Get the lowdown on North Africa and the Middle East funding options & discover the steps you need to take to get the critical cash s Opportunities in unconventional applications: From oil conversion, ISCC & desalination to industrial processes & more, get unique case studies on the emerging market opportunities that will secure MENA SOLAR future s MENA Solar – The power trade off: Get the reality on both the import of solar know how from Europe & the export of power from MENA to understand how to meet demands on both sides of the MED

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Desalination

FROST & SULLIVAN TAKES A SHOT AT PREDICTING THE DESALINATION SCENARIO IN MENA IN 2050.

he Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has found a bankable solution in desalination to address increasing water demand. The region accounts for 60% of world’s desalination capacity. Despite increasing desalination capacities, studies show that there will be reduction in the surface and groundwater availability in the long term from 225,000 million m3/year (2000) to 190,000 million m3/year (2050). During this time, water demand is also expected to grow from 255,000 million m3/year (2000) to 450,000 million m3/year (2050) creating an uneasy supply gap. This gap will have to be plugged by ingenious desalination technologies.

Current desalination technologies

261,250 m³/day on RO technology. In recent years, Multiple-Effect Desalination (MED) technology has established a reputation of being an efficient and comparable to MSF even in high capacity desalination systems. It is likely that in the medium term MED will replace MSF due to the advantages of low power consumption, lower heat exchange surface and improved efficiencies. The cumulative capacity of MED technology in the non-GCC countries has almost doubled in last decade. Currently, the largest MED plant is the Fujairah F2 MED Plant in Fujairah comprising a water production capacity of approximately 464,000 m³/day.

sectorreport FEATURE

Mega trends

Currently, close to 3,000 desalination plants are operational in MENA producing 27 million m3/day. A number of Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plants are successfully operating across MENA, more so in the non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The technology is now dependable and expected to increase its share across the region including in the GCC countries.

The largest SWRO plant under construction in the Mediterranean has a freshwater production capacity of 500,000 m³/day in Magtaa, Algeria. Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) technology has been dominant, especially in the GCC countries as the primary energy costs in these countries is comparatively low. The majority (over 80%) of cumulative capacity is attributed by plants over 100,000 m3/ day output, indicating that MSF is the favoured technology for large capacity plants. The largest MSF plant is under construction within the Raz Az Zour Phase 3 Water and Power Plant Project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Frost & Sullivan estimates the hybrid water plant combining MSF and Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination technologies to produce 768,750 m³/day based on MSF technology and

Efficient desalination holds the key to address the increasing demands in the MENA region. While technologies like SWRO, MSF and MED are mature and capable of producing large capacities, there would be external factors changing the dynamics of desalination technologies in the long term. Research suggests oil rich MENA is likely to see a drop in oil and gas sources between 2020 and 2030; this coupled with increasing water demand will create a void that is likely to be addressed by innovative Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) based desalination plants. The need for sustainable energy and alternatives to fossil fuel will drive desalination projects combined with CSP by 2025 as seen in the chart. Currently, the focus is mainly on CSP plant for electricity production; however, a number of initiatives and pilot programmes have started exploring CSP coupled with desalination. Frost & Sullivan sees two options emerging – first, RO system powered by electricity from CSP or second, MED using heat and power from CSP, that will hold the key to desalination and plugging the water demand gap

(Article courtesy: Environmental and Building Technologies Practice, Frost & Sullivan.) March2012

FEATURE productfocus

marketplace Cooper Bussmann: Compact PV fuse holder

TORAY: New generation RO elements

s one of the leading membrane manufacturers in the world, Toray offers Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane modules for Seawater and Brackish water desalination, Nanofiltration (NF) membrane modules, Membrane Bio-reactor (MBR) flat sheet PVDF membrane modules and Ultra-filtration (UF) membrane modules (pressurised and submerged). The company claims that it places huge emphasis on in-house R&D and product uct development to bring state of art membrane products ts to the market. For Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO), Toray hass launched the following new generation elements: TM820M, TM820K: Thanks to their extremely highh salt & boron rejection, these elements are suitable for high h feed water temperature and high feed water salinity areass like the Middle East. TM820R: With their high salt rejection and high flow, w, these elements are used in worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest SWRO desalination ation plant in Magtaa in Algeria. TM820L: This new generation energy saving element ent offers a blend of high salt rejection and high permeate ate flow. All the above SWRO elements are available both in 400ft2 and 440ft2 area configurations. On the brackish water front, Toray has launched new w chemical resistant BWRO element. The new TM720D 0D series features enhanced stability against chemical attack, both during CIP, where the range is now extended to pH 1 - pH 13, and during operation (pH 2 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11). The element iss the designated successor to Toray's workhorse, the TM700 700 series, and surpasses the latter in both salt rejection n and productivity. The company claims that the 720D series es can be used as direct replacement in TM720 installations, ations, without any need for readjustments or retrofits, while e providing energy savings and improved product water er quality. The TM720D series is available in 400 ft2 and nd 440 ft2 versions, with the 400 type featuring a 34 mill spacer for difficult waters.

March2012

ooper Bussmann, a leader in critical circuit protection, power management and electrical safety, has launched a new modular fuse holder for PV applications. According to a press release issued by the company, the new PV fuse holder is designed to accept its 10 x 38 range of 1-20 Amp PV fuse links. Manufactured from self-extinguishing UL 90V-0 rated polyester, and featuring an ultra-sonic welded body, the company claims that the new fuse holder is the smallest, most compact unit on the market with 10% smaller footprint than its predecessors. DIN rail mounting with built-in spring loading feature and a choice of either cable or spade lug connection, the press release pointed out, help simplify and speed up installation. According to the company, the box lug cable terminal is supplied at its maximum aperture, negating having to loosen the terminal screw before tightening back up; and accepts 1mm2 up to 25mm2 cable or a 6mm busbar connection. The wire strip length indicator on the body provides guidance on how far to strip back the cable insulation so that connections can be secured by the captive, backed-out, phil-slot screw. Once installed the fuse holder has a number of key safety features including a wire security tag hole and a 4-mm lockout device mounted on the fuse carrier. An optional open fuse indicator is available. Rated up to a 1000Vdc for use with solar gPV fuses, the fuse holder carries IEC, cULus, CSA, UL and CCC accreditations. The new fuse holder is colour-coded yellow to signify its use in solar applications and comes in single and double pole variants.

renewableenergy FEATURE

energyworld

POWERFUL PRODUCER AND SUPPLIER CLUSTERS IN EAST AND SOUTHERN GERMANY COULD REVIVE THE PHOTOVOLTAIC INDUSTRY’S FORTUNES.

Silver lining to the PV crisis L

ow demand, massive oversupply of products and materials, price declines – the photovoltaic (PV) industry is experiencing hard times. In December 2011, module producer Solon declared bankruptcy, while Schott Solar closed its multicrystalline wafer production in Jena. And now, the crisis has spread to China’s solar industry. “Nearly all Chinese producers are reducing their lines,” says Stefan de Haan, analyst with the US market research company IHS iSuppli. The global reduction of the cell and module plants in turn affects the machinery and plant manufacturers. Listed companies such as Manz, Centrotherm and Meyer Burger from Switzerland are reporting declining sales, incoming orders and order volumes. But there is hope still for the PV solar industry in Germany. The German government will provide additional funding in the amount of €100 million

for PV research over the next five years. Thanks to the cooperation between political and research establishments and the solar industry, Carsten Körnig, General Manager of the solar industry association Bundesverband Solarindustrie (BSW), assumes that the industry’s future prospects are positive. He said, “With 130,000 jobs, the German solar industry overshadows quite a few of the traditional economic sectors. Provided the funding conditions stay favourable, this number could grow even more.” Also, the PV industry engine shows no sign of slowing. Last year, Bavarian silicon producer Wacker Chemie invested nearly EUR one billion in the expansion of silicon production at Nünchritz in East Germany and created 500 additional jobs. The same number of jobs was created in 2011 at First Solar, the US-based thin-film specialist, which invested € 170 million to double the capacity of its module production in

Silicon production is increasing and the material is getting cheaper, which helps manufactures to lower their costs. (Photo: Bosch)

the East German Frankfurt an der Oder to 500 MW. The current silver lining also includes the Central German Solarvalley Mitteldeutschland, a cluster of research institutes, advanced companies and producers in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. Last year, the flagship of Solarvalley, Bosch Solar Energy, commissioned a centre of excellence in Arnstadt, Thuringia, which will combine research and development, cell and module production as well as a training centre under one roof. By 2012-end, 1,000 new jobs shall be created there. In Thalheim in Saxony-Anhalt, module producer Sovello is increasing its production capacity from 180 MW to 250 MW. The company has installed special ovens for the production of wafers that use less silicon. These were purchased from the bankrupt US producer Evergreen Solar. “With an investment of approximately €35 million into these

March2012

FEATURE renewableenergy

energyworld In order to get ahead of their competition, manufacturers need to focus on better cell eﬃciency. (Photo: Bosch)

growth of solar module 1 The production in Germany depends on the industry’s innovation capability and political support. (Photo: aleo solar)

systems, we will protect the jobs over the next two years,” said Sovello Director Reiner Beutel.

Plant manufacturers continue to innovate The concentrated expertise in the Solarvalley cluster has been a deciding factor in attracting more investment. The location is interesting even for Asian manufacturers, who - one would think - could find better conditions in terms of lower labour costs and higher government grants in China or even Taiwan. For example, Leipzig-based Solarion is building a factory for thin-film modules with an investment of approximately €40 million provided by Taiwan’s Walsin Lihwa, which purchased 49% of Solarion in 2010. “We are building our plant in Zwenkau because we need a highly professional environment of suppliers and research partners to scale-up our technology from the pilot stage to mass production,” said Stefan Nitzsche, Solarion Sales

March2012

Director. The thin-film specialist used the synergies of the cluster to bring 90 new jobs to the region. The benefits of solar industry cluster in central Germany are flowing to other German regions too, like Baden-Württemberg, which is the home of Germany’s mechanical engineering industry. Solarvalley producer Q-Cells commissioned its first production line from solar engineering specialist Centrotherm and helped the company get started in the solar business. Centrotherm now exports to all corners of the world, with Asia accounting for more than 85% of its sales volume. However, the company must ready itself for a tough year 2012 with declining sales and profits, because manufacturers ordered less equipment in 2011. Nevertheless, Centrotherm – as most other outfitters – is financially stable to maintain its strong commitment to innovation and thus retain a promising market position. According to the German Machinery and Plant

Manufacturers’ Association (VDMA), German solar system suppliers achieved additional sales of just below 10% in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, which bodes well for future investments. Centrotherm’s technological objectives are ambitious. “We would like to realise a further price reduction of at least 18% per year with our cells and modules,” explained Technology Director Peter Fath. Plant manufacturer Grenzebach from Baden-Württemberg is also using this low demand period to push innovations. The company used to specialise in automation solutions for thin-film production. In future, it plans to also offer equipment for the installation of solar reflector fields for solar-thermal power plants as well as the production of socalled concentrator modules. “CPV technology is a growing, futureoriented sector of the PV industry,” said Egbert Wenninger, Acting Sales

renewableenergy FEATURE

AS A RESULT SOLAR ENERGY IN GERMANY US CURRENTLY BEING CRITICISED AS BEING TOO GENEROUS AND EXPENSIVE AND POLITICIANS WANT TO SEE DRASTIC REDUCTIONS Thanks to higher throughput, production costs are decreasing. (Photo: Amonix)

Director with Grenzebach. In concentrator modules, integrated lens focus light in high concentration onto a tiny, highly efficient solar cell. Concentrators are highly suitable for use in countries with high levels of solarisation as they can use direct light very efficiently. As a result, several energy providers in the south-west of the US are already looking into this technology. At the moment, CPV modules are being produced manually, in low numbers, due to lack of equipment. “Thanks to our automation techniques, this is an opportunity to position ourselves successfully in the CPV market,” said Wenninger.

Tight funding Despite the many bright spots in the PV sector, challenges remain. In the mechanical engineering sector, competition is growing rapidly with outfitters from the US and China making inroads. “Chinese mechanical engineering companies are now

offering equipment for most process steps of solar cell production,” said Eric Maiser, Managing Director of VDMA Photovoltaic Production Goods. Those who want to succeed as suppliers in this segment must show rapid innovation, and this in turn, requires investment and more scientific personnel. In regions such as Southern Germany, where some major plants are located, top-level personnel could become scarce. Principally, all solar machine producers need the same experts like chemists, physicists. As these skills are not readily available in the labour market, outfitters will have to fight over expertise, which could put a dampener on their competitiveness. Quick innovation is also required when it comes to cells and modules. In the area of production, German companies are in a difficult situation because unlike their Chinese counterparts, they cannot access cheap government loans nor benefit from low labour costs. For these

reasons, they are under much higher pressure to lower their production costs. But an even more serious problem is looming ahead. According to the Federal Network Agency, installed solar capacity increased by 7,500 MW in 2011. As a result, solar promotion in Germany is currently being criticised as being too generous and expensive, and politicians want to see drastic reductions. If the Federal government were to actually cap the tariffs or put limits, experts fear this could stall the advance of Germany’s PV industry.

(Article Courtesy: Solarpeq International Trade fair for Solar Production Equipment. The event will be held in Düsseldorf from October 23-26, 2012. For more information, please e-mail Sebastian Pflügge at PflueggeS@messeduesseldorf.de) March2012

FEATURE energyworld

ogpfocus The Integration Factor – 2

“FROM THE TIME WE STARTED, WE HAVE NEVER LOOKED ANYWHERE OUTSIDE THE PROCESS INDUSTRY,” DECLARES JOHN HAGUE, SENIOR VP & MD, MENA, ASPENTECH.” WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY, THERE AREN’T MANY COMPANIES THAT GO BACK 30 YEARS.”

spenTech has always focussed on driving value in the process industry across three areas, namely engineering, manufacturing and supply chains. “Our advanced process control software, which sits on top of Distributed Control System (DCS), is the leading tool used for optimising unit process operations across the refining and petrochemical industries,” said Hague. “Our information systems supply the operational information that operators need. We also provide them tools to carry out yield accounting, be it on the units or the plant’s output.” AspenTech has integrated its applications into the AspenONE suite, which comprises of two parts – the engineering suite, which incorporates the products for designing the process units and the heat exchangers, carrying out costing analysis on the construction of platforms and facilities, and the manufacturing and supply chain suite, which groups applications addressing process control, planning and scheduling. The two suites, between them, include over 150 distinct applications. Additionally, they are further refined for the specific industry they go into. Hague also highlighted how AspenTech supports and enables the mega trend of integrated refining and petrochemical complexes coming up in the region. “A company building such a complex could use our engineering tools for conceptual design across the various plants and even estimate how they should design the chemical units for best fit with the refinery. Our tools can help them set up operation plans, assess whether they are optimising the value they are creating, and also ensure they are delivering and fulfilling the contracts signed in the

February2012

IN THE SECOND INSTALMENT OF THE SERIES ON AUTOMATION TRENDS IN THE GULF REGION’S OIL, GAS & PETROCHEMICALS (OGP) SECTOR, ANOOP K MENON FINDS OUT HOW ASPENTECH AND ROCKWELL AUTOMATION ARE GEARING UP TO ADDRESS OPPORTUNITIES THROWN UP BY THE HIGHLY INTEGRATED UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM INVESTMENTS IN THE REGION.

market place. Additionally, our manufacturing and supply chain technology is generally linked to the market values for the products as well as the intermediates. As the prices change in the market place, different opportunities become available to the producers. Our tools can also help them take advantage of these opportunities, for example, by managing schedule revisions or dynamically switching operations. Furthermore, they also help minimise overall costs – be it feedstock, energy or inventory – in terms of how they can maximise the value of actual production, and maintain the predictability of their operations so that they know for sure what is said upfront in the plan is what they end up producing.” Rather than pitching to be a part of a project at the start, AspenTech’s engagement model with customers is to build strategic relationships that focus on finding and unlocking value in the latter’s operations. “The particular applications they roll out are dictated by where the unlocked value resides in their assets. Generally, we work with senior executives in charge of refining and operations,” said Hague. Commenting on the CAPEX-OPEX equation that generally dictates automation spend in a project (typically, automation constitutes a small portion of CAPEX even though its impact through the plant’s lifecycle), Hague noted that while the focus upfront is on CAPEX which is quite large for the assets themselves, the key benefit that AspenTech provides is the ability to look at the operational costs and capabilities of these assets throughout their lifecycle. “We can provide an accurate picture so that companies make good business decisions,” he said. “For example, we can tell them how they will operate an asset built in a particular way; predict the cost based on their cost assumptions and the production values based on production assumptions. Our tools, whether engineering or operations or supply chain, are all based on rigorous models of the plants themselves. High level systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) can’t get into operational levels to the extent we can.”

Advertorial Moving from strength to strength

RP Industries is the first and largest manufacturer of glass-reinforced polyester enclosures and kiosks in the Middle East. Founded in 1989, the company has three manufacturing facilities within Sharjah, UAE and is an approved vendor to all GCC water and electricity authorities such as the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA). The company’s product range has expanded since its inception and now includes battery boxes along polyester sunshades and instrument enclosures for the Oil & Gas industries, as well as roofing products such as skylight sheets, soaker panels, flashings and downspouts for the Construction industry. GRP Industries is an ISO certified corporation, with all its products passed by independent testing labs for IP ratings, UV stabilisation and fire safety. Following the company’s strategy to follow best practices, in 2012 GRP Industries will be incorporating the Integrated Management System certification that will encompasses the ISO Quality Management System, OSHAS Occupational Health & Safety, and Environment Preservation. GRP Industries —founded by Sudesh K. Aggarwal— has been a pioneer in its field since inception, and was the driving force in convincing the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) of the advantages of applying polyester products in the electricity and water industry. GRP Industries was also instrumental in assisting DEWA representatives in formulating the specifications for polyester enclosures and kiosks. Today, GRP Industries—managed by the founder’s son, Suneel Aggarwal—is growing rapidly and evolving both its manufacturing capabilities and professional outlook. It has more than 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Sharjah, as well as offices in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman, and is expanding across the MENA region, supplying products utilised by the Water and Electricity governing bodies in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Iran. Given the high quality of its products and the professional experience of dealing with GRP Industries, markets such as the US, UK, Italy and Sri Lanka have turned to GRP Industries to fulfil their GRP products requirements. The company is now focusing on the Saudi Arabian market and pursuing a venture to establish a manufacturing facility in Jeddah and have a stronghold in The Kingdom. GRP Industries’ infrastructure comprises of two manufacturing facilities in the Sharjah Airport International Free (SAIF) Zone and one in the Sharjah industrial area. The company has the capability of manufacturing its products

entirely in-house with a start to finish production line that includes: Mold Design > Lamination > Cutting & Sanding > Accessories Fabrication > Assembly > Finishing & Cleaning > Packaging Manufacturing processes include moulding by injection, contact and cold press. The company’s core competency lies in its electrical enclosures and kiosks product range with an inventory of over a thousand sizes and the ability to manufacture custom sizes suiting client requirements. GRP Industries’ manufacturing processes provide its products with an exterior protective layer of 400 μm gelcoat that is resistant to exposure to harsh visible light, ultraviolet radiation, sand blasting and humidity prevalent in the MENA region. Listed below are some of the applications GRP Industries enclosures and kiosks are utilised:

Enclosures • Electric Meter Cabinets • Water Meter Cabinets • Telephone/CCTV Cabinets • Switchgear housing Feeder Pillars Service Struts Fuse Box • Fire & Safety Equipment Cabinets • Telecommunication Cabinets • Safety Equipment Cabinets • RMU Equipment Cabinets

advertorial FEATURE

GRP Industries:

Kiosks • Housing for Package Sub-station • Housing for Capacitor Banks • Housing for MCC • Housing for pumps & other equipment • Housing for Analyzers The company’s products can be recognised with its trademark logo all across commercial and residential areas in the GCC. Listed below are a few examples: • Dubai International Airport, UAE • Jebel Ali International Airport, UAE • Dubai Silicon Oasis, UAE • Ras Gas, Qatar • Yas Island, Abu – Dhabi, UAE • Saudi ARAMCO, KSA • Dubai Marina, UAE • Kauther Gas Processing, PDO, Oman Over its life GRP Industries’ core values remain unchanged: quality, service, and value to its clients. The company continues to invest in the latest technology, and an inhouse specialised engineering team is available to assist customers with tailor-made solutions and ensure after-sales service and complete satisfaction. For more details, please visit www.grpindustries.com

March2012

FEATURE energyworld

energyworld He pointed out that one of top five global petrochemical companies saved 20% of their capital budget each year using AspenTech to design their facilities and thereafter, standardising those designs. The cost savings came from the ability to leverage procurement activities as well as the design of the facilities themselves. As upstream and downstream integration gathers pace, another significant trend is the linking of the plant floor and enterprise systems. End-to-end integration is a reality today in the OGP industry, noted Hague, adding that the space between DCS and ERP is where AspenTech’s tools can help unlock tremendous value. For example, in petrochemicals, AspenTech’s supply chain tools exchange information with the ERP system on the products made, the inventories available, and the ability to supply products of a specific grade to meet the demands of a particular customer. Over the years, the company has also finessed the art of quality control where its products are concerned. The quality control centre in Shanghai, one of the three development centres worldwide, subjects all applications and releases to rigorous quality tests, both automated and manual, before they are released into the market. The field operation test cases submitted by customers are embedded into the test suite to ensure that the products are fit for the purpose. On the product improvement front, AspenTech relies on customer feedback from the field. Hague elaborated: “We have advisory boards made up of strategic customers to give us feedback on the products themselves and the product roadmap. We also track all our customer support statistics very closely to see where issues are coming up. Every year, we hold a global user group meeting where customers present papers on the use of our products, their performance, and all shades of value generated.”

Rockwell’s partnership agenda “While our products have been present in oil & gas installations in the region for a long time, what we aspire for is market recognition of this penetration,” says Neil Enright, Regional Sales Director - Middle East, Rockwell Automation. “We want to show our customers the benefits of having Rockwell Automation as a partner in the development of their automation contracts and strategies for large process plants as opposed to being a product supplier on the OEM side.” In fact, Enright also has the twin responsibility for the oil & gas vertical for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EME&A) region. While Rockwell Automation may not be the first name that springs to mind when one thinks about oil & gas, the company has a long legacy in the sector through indirect channels, mainly Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and skid manufacturers, and also through acquisitions like ICS Triplex and Pavilion Technologies. Rockwell’s Allen Bradley brand too has a long legacy in the oil & gas

February2012

industry. “We want to continue that story and bring up the focus, specifically in the Middle East region, for Rockwell Automation as a solution provider for the oil & gas industry as opposed to a product supplier,” explained Enright. “For example, our PlantPAx systems and solutions portfolio is a complete process story, which incorporates different platform elements of our control architecture technologies and brings together all our process expertise.” Enright also believes that his company can deliver a lot value to the oil & gas sector’s integration theme. He continued: “If you look at the integrated architecture world, you can see the various components that also work independently of each other. The art, however, lies in getting the connectivity integration right up to the appropriate level, whether it is the operator or the management user of the ERP system. The whole integration story and ease of integration is a key differentiator for us as a solutions provider and for the customer, as a user.” Historically, automation vendors relied in proprietary protocols for communication. But the industry is now driving towards open architecture which gives customers the benefits of commercially available protocols and architecture and the flexibility to move between different vendors. “We understand the industry requirements and the trends. Together with our partners, we are leading that kind of technology development and implementation,” said Enright. Process safety and critical control is a sweet spot for Rockwell Automation in the oil & gas sector, and more so in the region, where it enjoys strong brand recognition through the Logix Control Platform and ICS Triplex. “In this region, de facto, every oil & gas site you go to will have some element of Logix Control safety applications or advanced technology from ICS Triplex,” claimed Enright. He believes the Gulf region’s oil & gas is intact even as economic diversification gathers steam. “In Abu Dhabi, in 2005, the non-hydrocarbon part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was approximately 40%,” said Enright. “Currently, it is a 50:50 split and by 2030, they are targeting oil/non-oil GDP ratio of 36:64. We want to be a bigger player in the region’s oil & gas sector; beyond that, I see a lot of opportunities in the power sector – fossil fuel, nuclear and also in energy-intensive industries like aluminium and petrochemicals. The first part (The Integration Factor, MW-H20 February 2011) covered Emerson Process, ABB and Invensys. The concluding part next month will cover Siemens, Honeywell & Endress & Hauser)

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he Merus Group’s mission statement is to ‘develop and market ecological high-tech products and processes for water and hydrocarbon treatment that achieves maximum results for clients and the environment with a minimum of raw materials and energy.’ Founded in 1996 by a group of German Scientists, the Merus Group manufactures the popular Merus Rings for water and hydrocarbon treatment. Over the years, the Group has acquired a strong reputation for the effectiveness and ‘greener’ approach of its products and services that are revolutionising the water and hydrocarbon industry worldwide, enabling tremendous water savings sans chemicals. The Merus Group currently serves its clients worldwide over a broad range of applications ranging from Cooling Towers, Heat Exchangers, Boilers, Chilled Water Systems, HVAC-R Systems, Potable Water Systems, General Piping networks and several other water based equipments & machinery components as a solutions provider for the chronic problems of Corrosion, Scaling, Fouling and Microbiological growth. A dedicated team has also been dedicated in the greater coverage areas in R&D, Petrochemical engineering, Water conditioning, pharmaceutical and Process Engineering. The Group has managed to expand and penetrate the global market to the extent that customers anywhere can now access its services.

specific oscillation pattern. Based on these basic molecular oscillation patterns, it was possible to develop new oscillations or what we call Effect Oscillations or Anti-dote Oscillations. The process of developing such an Effect Oscillation Pattern takes approximately 200 hours. Through R&D efforts spread over 15 years, Merus has developed several hundreds of different Effect Oscillations, all of which are stored in our database. The carrier for Effect Oscillations is an Al-Mg-Si1 alloy ring, the material being selected for its very high costbenefit ratio. The Effect Oscillations are recorded on this carrier like data recorded on a CD or DVD. The recording a highly classified process using laser light and different oscillators. The loaded ring is clamped around the pipe where the liquid is to be treated. Once installed, the ring immediately starts to emit the Effect Oscillations into the liquid. The power source to drive the oscillations is the natural movement of the electrons of the alloy ring. The Effect Oscillations are placed, like a parasite, in the molecular structure of the alloy at quantum levels. The movement of the alloy molecules as per Brownian Theory of Motion is enough to produce a field of Effect Oscillations.

NUPLAS ADVERTORIAL

Yes it’s Possible!! Water treatment without chemicals...

Regional Head Offices • Sindelfingen, Germany (Headquarters for water-based services worldwide) • Singapore (Headquarters for oil & gas-based installations and services worldwide) • Mumbai, India (Head Office for India operations) • Abu Dhabi, UAE (Head Office for Gulf Operations) • Branch offices and regional support missions in more than 40 countries

How Do Merus Rings Function The Technology used by Merus today was developed empirically; hence the theory behind it is yet to find a permanent place in scientific literature. But that hasn’t been an obstacle, as the over 15,000 successful installations worldwide since 1996 attest. In the course of experiments, the R&D division at Merus was able to “measure” the movement patterns or molecular oscillations of various electrons. They found that for each element or molecule, there is a typical and

Once the Effect Oscillations meet the liquid inside the pipe, the liquid will take these oscillations and transport them very fast and very far in the flow direction. For example, if the Effect Oscillation meets a basic oscillation of rust, they will interfere and change the physical behaviour of

February2012

ADVERTORIAL NUPLAS

Nuplas Industries Limited MO0 501, Road 732, Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, PO Box 17119, UAE Tel: +971 4 8818616 Fax: +971 4 8818757

At the time of MERUS installation

A Few Days after MERUS installation

the ingredients in the liquid. Calcium and paraffin wax will be dissolved to far higher content than before; existing rust molecules will become unstable and be flushed out. When the Effect Oscillations meet iron, Magnetite is formed, which is inert against new corrosion and thus, there won’t be any material loss. The Effect Oscillations produced by Merus Rings are capable of penetrating almost all kinds of pipe material. Standard Sizes Available in Stock: ½” up to 24” Customised sizes: up to 2000mm pipe outer diameter Maximum outside pipe temperature: 95° C

conventional water or liquid treatment methods that only fight the symptoms of the problems of rust, corrosion, scaling, fouling or other microbiological elements. Over the last 15 years, Merus Rings have solved many problems in water-bearing installations and systems related to Rust, Corrosion, Scaling, Fouling, Biofouling and other Bacteria/Algae related problems. More recently, after establishing Merus Oil & Gas Pte in Singapore in 2007, Merus Rings have also been deployed in the treatment of problems specific to hydrocarbons. This article describes how the company solved the cocktail of existing deposition and growth of Rust, Corrosion, Scaling, Biofouling & Micro-organisms in the cooling loop of a refinery of Saudi Aramco in Riyadh and prevented their further occurrence. The real example below evidences the effectiveness and sustainability of Merus’ non-chemical industrial water treatment technology.

*The figures given below are the biggest, highest figures actually achieved in the field.

SAUDI ARAMCO CASE STUDY Merus Company has developed the ‘Merus Ring’ for water treatment in line with the philosophy of ‘prevention better than cure.’ They believe in treating water and other liquids in a way that reduce or in many cases even eliminate, the negative side-effects arising out of technical parameters governing the operations of manufacturing, producing or processing industries. Their approach is supported by their strength and uniqueness in developing liquid-borne ‘oscillations,’ which makes the liquid equipmentfriendly, but also extends technical parameters much further than

Pankaj Negandhi Mobile: +97150-7256014 Email: merus@nuplas-uae.com

March2012

Background Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest producer of oil, with the highest proven oil production and reserves in the world. The world’s most valuable company employs a workforce of over 60,000 and operates more than 250 oil and gas fields. In addition to production and transportation of oil & gas, Saudi Aramco also operates numerous refineries like the Riyadh Refinery, which was commissioned in 1981 with a production capacity of more than 100,000 bpd. In process industries like

refineries, water is used as cooling medium and mostly transported in metallic pipes or systems. Dissolved and suspended substances in the water alter its physical and chemical properties posing a risk to the material used in the piping systems and the equipment in general. Fouling and Scaling are the biggest causes of heat transfer reduction after a period of time and are common phenomena in heat exchanger tubes and piping systems. They are caused by suspended solids, precipitated dissolved solids, corrosion products and microbiological slime from the cooling water stream. The problem becomes worse when Under Deposit Corrosion progresses, causing system failure and contamination of cooling water system with hydrocarbon streams. The most annoying consequence facing plant operators is loss of production during unplanned shutdown to fix leaking equipment. Therefore, standard methods of water treatment are used to mitigate fouling and growth of microbiological slime. Yet, it has very limited effect on fouling prevention. Also, sedimentation of suspended solids inside tubes and metallic piping enhance fouling and corrosion. Saudi Aramco standard specifies minimum flow velocity of one m/s to minimise deposition of solids and accumulation of water at the bottom of pipes. Nevertheless, this requirement cannot always be fulfilled due to variety of reasons.

Inspection and finding The cooling water system has central cooling towers that feed several kilometres long piping network with almost 300 heat exchangers and different machines. The total amount of water in the system is around 5,500m3, the feed water has approx. 2,000 TDS and the blow down is conducted at around 5,000 TDS. The refinery has a planned shutdown every three years. During this period, most of the heat exchangers on the cooling water side

Merus GmbH Group of Companies Head Quarters Ziegelstrasse 1, 71063 Sindelfingen Germany Tel: +49 7031 814084 Fax: +497031 814085 Email: info@merus.de

consuming and expensive exercise. Initially, a trial using MERUS rings was carried out on a few critical heat exchangers, where it was possible to open and check the results during regular operation.

After six months Six months later, one exchanger was opened during Platformer unit regeneration period for visual inspection. Though the exchanger had many clogged tubes and very low cooling efficiency, the result was astonishing. The tubes looked very clean as if they had been cleaned using the hydrojet process. Figure 1 shows the exchanger condition before and after six months of installing Merus ring on the inlet pipe. In addition to that, at the inlet pipe downstream, the ring was found flushed cleaned whereas rust and scales were still intact upstream as shown in Figure 2. Seeing the results of the MERUStreated heat exchangers, Saudi Aramco broadened the application and ordered installations for an additional 50 heat exchangers to achieve the above-described performance, which would be monitored during the regular shutdown of the refinery. During the shutdown, next to all heat exchangers were opened and cleaned; MERUS-treated exchangers were either totally clean or far cleaner than the untreated ones.

Figure 1: Condition of heat exchangers Before & After Merus

MERUS applications

Figure 2: Condition of inlet pipe upstream and downstream the Merus Ring

MERUS devices are being used worldwide to effectively fight the problems of rust, corrosion, scaling, fouling, bio-fouling and bacteria/algae control at the roots. Water applications include Piping Systems of all kinds, Heat Exchangers, Hot Vessels, Hot water systems, Cooling towers, Chilled water systems, Fire Fighting systems in Treated water, Ground water, Sea water, Effluent Water, Wastewater and Potable Water, reaching temperatures up to 800 Deg

Centigrade of the process. Please visit us at www.merusonline.com for more information. Oil & Gas applications include Wax and Scale Precipitation, Condensate/ Gas Pipelines, Oil and Water Emulsion Separation, COT Processors, ETP's, Fighting Sulphur Reducing Bacteria (SRB), Gas Terminals, Improving Quality of Effluent Water, Down Hole Tools. Please visit us at www. merusoilandgas.com for more information.

Our Dealer in UAE – Nuplas Industries Nuplas Industries Ltd is one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers for plastic packaging material, comprising mainly of PVC film for pharmaceutical, food & blister packs. Nuplas Industries started operations in 1997 in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai with one Calendar for manufacturing Rigid PVC Film. Within a short span of two years, the company expanded by installing another line to meet the growing demand for packaging film market. Now with a total installed capacity of 750 tonnes per month, Nuplas is the largest manufacturer of Rigid PVC in the Middle East. Due to its strategic location in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, Nuplas has direct access to the port with fast, frequent and reliable sailings to most of the world’s seaports, facilitating exports. With a manufacturing facility spread over 200,000 sq.ft, Nuplas Industries provides a clean environment for manufacturing all its products. It employs over a 120 employees from different parts of the world and has spread its wings by supplying its products to over 28 countries.

March2012

NUPLAS ADVERTORIAL

are opened and inspected. In most of these heat exchangers, heavy fouling and scaling deposits are found, both in the tubes and the shell as well at the inlet and outlet pipes. Corrosion is a big issue at specific places. Solving the problem Adding chemical inhibitors or introducing heat can solve the problem in the parts of the water system where the water is circulating or flowing. In a dead leg, adding chemicals or using UV light does not solve the problem because the water is not circulated. It is mostly local in this flange, so bacteria, algae or biofilm growing there are unaffected by the chemicals or heat. The common dead leg definition, in the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) wording, is, “Not to have an unused portion greater in length than six times the diameter of the unused pipe – measured from the axis of the pipe in use.” Prior to MERUS, the cleaning procedure consisted of disassembling the heat exchangers to conduct the chemical/acid cleaning followed by re-assembly for operations, a time

TEST measurement

electricalreview

What's the difference? TWO COMMON TYPES OF ELECTRICAL TESTING ARE OFTEN EASILY CONFUSED - INSULATION TESTING AND “HIGH-POTTING”. BOTH ARE SIMILAR IN THEIR METHOD, BUT CRITICALLY DIFFER IN DEGREE AND AIM. JEFF JOWETT, APPLICATIONS ENGINEER, MEGGER DEMONSTRATES HOW AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASIS FOR THE TWO TESTS IS PARAMOUNT TO THEIR RESPECTIVE APPLICATIONS.

nsulation testers are also known by the generic name megohmmeters. High-pots derive their name from “high potential”, a reference to their test voltages, and are also dielectric breakdown testers. Both types have two terminals by which a high voltage is applied across the test sample. Some current will flow through the insulation of the test item, and is measured by the tester’s circuitry. Usually, the current flow is small - nano-Amp - but increases as insulating material ages and becomes worn or is damaged by catastrophic events like voltage spikes or a sudden influx of contaminants, as in flooding. As current flow is the inverse of insulation quality, the tester uses this information to make its determination. In insulation testing, the test voltage is a means by which a measurement is taken and displayed. In high-potting, voltage is more of an end, just to see if the insulation can take it. The two methods overlap quite a bit in their use, technique, and design of instrumentation, so it is a good idea to be familiar with both. The prime goal of insulation testing is to provide a measurement. Megohmmeters are always DC testers. The high-voltage output is direct current. The tester measures the parameters of voltage and current, and via Ohm’s Law, calculates the resistance of the insulation on the test item. Because the purpose of insulation is to seriously hinder current flow, there isn’t much of it before the test item has broken down. Consequently, the megohmmeter must be capable of measuring very small currents, but conversely, can be severely limited in its maximum output. Accordingly, insulation testers are typically limited to only a few milli-amps of test current. This limitation serves four purposes. First, it makes the testers comparatively safe. Even though they commonly output up to 15 kV and sometimes higher, insulation testers are not dangerous to the extent that their voltages may imply. That does not mean that safety can be treated with a cavalier attitude, however. The item being tested can certainly become lethal. Capacitive items can store large static charges that remain after conclusion of the test and pose a serious hazard. While insulation tests are always

March2012

performed offline, the test item can become energised either through human error or an “event”, and accidents can occur. Fortunately, quality megohmmeters have redundant safety features that protect the operator as much as is reasonably possible. Secondly, current limitation facilitates the implementation of convenient on-board power sources, most notably batteries. Common AA batteries can output a thousand volts in a handheld instrument through current limitation, and sealed lead-acids can provide higher voltages without having to go to line power. Thirdly, current limitation protects the test item in the event of breakdown. Many failed test items can be restored to service by simple maintenance like cleaning and drying. But this would not be so simple if breakdown current had pinholed or in some other way physically damaged the insulation. With limited current, when resistance becomes too low, something has to yield, and that is the test voltage. Accordingly, when no more current flow can be accommodated, the voltage collapses. A good quality instrument should exhibit sharp rise of test voltage up to a resistance value commensurate with “good” insulation; i.e., around one megohm for one kV tests, five megohms for five kV, and so on. Below these values, insulation isn’t truly insulation any more, but above these values, full selected test voltage should be maintained so that the item is being tested to proper specifications. Some testers of poor quality exhibit a slow rise that doesn’t reach selected voltage until well into the megohm range. Such models are not providing a true one kV test or whatever the specified voltage is, and should be avoided. Finally, current limitation serves one of the most valuable purposes of insulation testing: predictive/ preventive maintenance. It would be counter-productive to have the recommended testing procedure stressing insulation to the point of reducing its life. Therefore the limited power behind an insulation test allows it to be performed again and again over the life of a given piece of equipment while extending the life, not abbreviating it.

HIGH-POTS THAT USE AC ARE PREFERRED BECAUSE THEY SIMULATE THE VOLTAGE STRESS THAT WILL BE EXPERIENCED BY MOST EQUIPMENT WHEN IN OPERATION.

Industrial hi-pot testing High-pots differ in many ways from the insulation testers. Yes, they apply high voltage across insulation and measure leakage current, but the similarity ends there. If that wasn’t confusing enough, high-pots come in two completely different types. These are industrial high-pots and cable high-pots. Industrials are used (generally as a requirement) by manufacturers of electrical products to assure the safety of the product before it ships and falls into the hands of the user. Cable high-pots are employed by the utilities as a preconditioner in the fault-locating process, and in installation and maintenance checks of other high-voltage equipment. The manufacturers of electrical goods are often required by various agencies to assure the public of the safety of their product by testing it to independent standards Organisations like UL, CSA and VDE (Underwriters Laboratories, Canadian Standards Association and Verband der Electrotechnik) require a final high-pot test for many types of product from consumer goods to commercial equipment. Hi-pot testers are radically different from insulation testers: they are generally AC and they do not provide a measurement. They are concerned only with pass/fail, and tolerate virtually no operator involvement. High-pots that use AC are preferred because they simulate the voltage stress that will be experienced by most equipment when in operation. Because of the reversing polarity, AC tests tend to pick up end defects in windings better than DC, which concentrates stress more to the middle. However, many products possess considerable capacitance in their design (large windings, parallel runs of wiring and cable) so that charging currents “trip” the testers. With a DC insulation test, the trained operator knows to watch for the stabilisation that comes with full charge. But with an AC test that never happens, unless the test item can be completely charged on a half cycle (before current flows the other way). This requires considerable power, large transformers, and prohibitively bulky, expensive and unwieldy test equipment. Accordingly, standards agencies generally

allow a DC test to be substituted, with test voltage adjusted from RMS to AC peak. Also called a “dielectric strength test”, a high-pot test is just that. It is concerned with the strength of insulation, its ability to withstand voltage stress, rather than with its measurement. Some high-pots do indeed include meters that indicate current or resistance, but these are ancillary functions. The purpose of a hi-pot tester is to break down marginal insulation …literally kill the weak. Products manufactured with electrical defects - faulty components, incorrect assembly, loose strand - can present a serious, sometimes lethal hazard. Manufacturers don’t want them to get off the end of the assembly line. The high-pot stresses the insulation at high voltage. The most prevalent standard is twice rated plus one thousand volts, so that 120 V-rated items would be tested at 1,240 volts. It is expected that the test will break down and short out any marginal items.

measurement TEST

So the immediate aim of an insulation test is to provide a measurement. It is then incumbent upon the operator to make proper use of this information. Consequently, insulation testers should be operated by adequately trained personnel. Among other things, the operator must be familiar with the circuit that is being tested, know what lead hookup is testing what element of the item under test, and know how to interpret results. This is no easy task, considering that “good” insulation might be anything from a few megohms to several tera-ohms. The operator also must know how to interpret pointer travel and dancing digits, and be familiar with various industry-standard test procedures that serve the purposes of testing the same insulation in different ways, saving test time, or providing built-in “good/bad” interpretation. In short, an insulation tester demands considerable operator involvement.

(To be continued)

March2012

TEST measurement

electricalreview

Analysing dissipation factor test results A DISSIPATION FACTOR MEASUREMENT AT LINE FREQUENCY IS PRESENTLY ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY INCLUDED ELECTRICAL FIELD TESTS IN THE INDUSTRY AND IS COUNTED UPON TO FACILITATE A ROUTINE APPRAISAL OF THE DIELECTRIC WELLBEING OF A POWER ASSET IN THE FIELD.

issipation factor can be effective in determining, on a general level, whether an insulation system is clean and dry, or conversely, if it is no longer performing its use efficiently or adequately. But does the industry expect too much from this measurement? Understanding the shortcomings of this diagnostic tool not only answers this question but also, together with the lessons from a sister test (the variable frequency dissipation factor test), shows why the common approach to analysing dissipation factor test results can lead to poor, resultant decisions and ought to be rethought. The shortcomings of a single, line frequency dissipation factor measurement include:

Average Condition A dissipation factor measurement represents the average condition of the total insulation system under test. This dissipation factor measurement deficiency has been resoundingly shouted out for decades. For example, a tester can never be quite sure whether an elevated CHL dissipation factor measurement of 0.6 per cent indicates that the interwinding (CHL) insulation system has generally and uniformly become contaminated or whether most of the interwinding system is very healthy barring one localised area of extremely high contamination. The latter is a localised defect and is a more serious condition that typically warrants immediate (re)action, which makes the ability to differentiate between the two (widespread versus localised contamination) vital. You are unable to do this with the dissipation factor measurement. Consequently, users have long been warned of the importance of

March2012

HOW INDUSTRY EMBRACED GUIDELINES CAN FAIL THE USER BY JILL DUPLESSIS

separating and testing the smallest section of an insulation system possible, so as to minimise an averaging influence in which detail regarding the health of the insulation system becomes lost. The smaller the insulation component tested the more detail that is seen.

Blind Spot A standard dissipation factor measurement at line frequency (60 Hz) has what equates to a "blind spot". To a long-time subscriber to this methodology, this deficiency is the most disturbingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;particularly when you reflect on its farreaching ramifications. This fact means that an insulation system may be contaminated with moisture, for example, but the level of contamination has not yet been made "visible" whereby the dissipation factor result is affected. Consequently, the dissipation factor measurement remains unchanged even though moisture contamination (in this example) of the insulation system is increasing. It is not until the degree of contamination advances to a certain level that it then moves into the line of sight of the single, line frequency dissipation factor measurement and is detectable.

Inability to label the problem When a determination has been made that a system is no longer testing as well, it is impossible to differentiate and characterise these losses, which may indicate moisture, aging, contamination, oil conductivity, or some combination therein. When the aforementioned shortcomings are considered collectively with the approaches available to analyse

WHEN COMPARING TO PREVIOUS TEST RESULTS, THE DISSIPATION FACTOR OF AN INSULATION COMPONENT IS NOT EXPECTED TO CHANGE.

ONE:

Comparison with benchmark or previous test results (If more than one previous test result is available, trending is possible)

TWO: Comparison to limits or general guidelines THREE: Comparison to similar apparatus in a database

dissipation factor test results, the user starts to realise that dissipation factor assessment isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t that straightforward. The tools provided to make the task simpler (guidelines, limits, and a database--between all of which the lines are blurred since limits are derived from a database, and the guidelines are derivatives of limits) can misguide. The result is that the user is ultimately not being served well by the tool in which they have placed so much confidence.

Understanding dissipation factor Generally, the dissipation factor is a number that reflects how efficiently the dielectric is fulfilling its purpose of maintaining electrical isolation between points of different potential within an electrical apparatus. Insulation performs this function best when it is clean, dry, and void-free. When insulation becomes contaminated to a large enough degree, the dissipation factor at line frequency responds in turn by changing (normally, increasing). Typically, a smaller dissipation factor (for example, closer to zero) represents an insulation system in better condition. Notwithstanding the deficiencies of a single, line frequency dissipation factor measurement as a diagnostic tool (see 'Three Dissipation Factors' box), which are inescapable despite the analytic approach, the most dependable of these approaches is the firstâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a comparison with benchmark or previous results, and trending. When comparing to previous test results, the dissipation factor of an insulation component is not expected to change. A change would warrant additional investigation, first to validate the dissipation factor test result, and if subsequently deemed to be representative of the insulation,

# " # " # "

measurement TEST

DISSIPATION FACTOR ANALYSIS APPROACHES

to follow with more searching dielectric tests, such as variable frequency dissipation factor or dielectric response measurements. Still, the blind spot exists and you cannot surmise that because the dissipation factor result has not changed from previous that the state of the insulation system has not changed. The second approach for assessing dissipation factor test results is to apply limits that constitute the general guidelines provided in Table 1. Note that the use and application of these guidelines may result in an inaccurate assessment which leaves to question whether such guidelines can result in more harm at times than assistance. Those provided in Table 1 are from the IEEE standard 621995 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;IEEE Guide for Diagnostic Field Testing of Electric Power Apparatus - Part 1: Oil Filled Power Transformers, Regulators, and Reactorsâ&#x20AC;?; modifications to this table are anticipated in the future. The standard is published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). As an example of how these general guidelines can fail the user, consider the following example. If an overall dissipation factor measurement for CHL yields a dissipation factor test result of 0.45 per cent, by the general industry accepted guidelines this would be considered acceptable. However, if previous test results were available and searched, the user may discover that the transformer had been tested in the preceding year and that this CHL test result was 0.2 per cent. Now this most recent test result of 0.45 per cent would become cause for great concern. # " # " # "

Table 1: Recommended Diagnostic Characteristics (IEEE Std. 62-1995)

* If units are equipped with nitrogen blankets, total dissolved gas should not exceed 1.0 per cent. The third approach is to compare the test results to those for similar apparatus as found in a database. It should be noted that a database, from which dissipation factor limits as given in the Table 1 are incidentally derived, is not a consistently reliable tool for evaluation of dissipation factor test results either, particularly because of dissipation factorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blind spot. For an example, we turn to variable frequency dissipation factor, the sister test to a traditional dissipation factor measurement and the tool which exposes the blind spot at 60 Hz (hertz). The variable frequency dissipation factor measurement consists of eight single dissipation factor measurements at discrete frequencies between and including 15 Hz and 400 HZ. The analysis of variable frequency dissipation factor is based heavily on visual analysis. When conductive losses are negligible in a transformer's insulation system, the behaviour of dissipation factor versus frequency is such that the dissipation factor is

March2012

TEST measurement

electricalreview

Acceptable variable frequency dissipation factor test results

lowest at 15 Hz and progressively increases and is highest at 400 Hz. The resultant curve shape is given in Figure 1 above. As an insulation system becomes contaminated with conductive losses, the variable frequency dissipation factor curve shape changes such that it exhibits an upward "fish hook" at the lowest frequencies within the 15 Hz to 400 Hz band. Meanwhile, the line frequency (60 HZ) dissipation factor may not change at all. Figure 2 displays test results that warrant further investigation, and in this example was associated with a transformer that subsequently was determined to have an estimated 3.4 per cent water content in paper.

An example of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;blind spotâ&#x20AC;? of a traditional dissipation factor measurement

This is a compelling example that illustrates that although the 60 Hz dissipation factor test results are the same for two separate but similar apparatus, this cannot be interpreted as a reliable indicator that the assets are in the same condition; yet this is the premise upon which the use of a database works. Therefore, just as it may be misleading to rely on the guidelines provided in earlier Table 1 for an analysis, it may also be misleading to rely on a comparison of power factor results between similar apparatus as a measure to prove that the power factor test result of an apparatus is acceptable.

Conclusion The hope of the foregoing is that it heightens a userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s awareness of the pitfalls when analysing dissipation factor test results. And lest the value of the standard dissipation factor measurement becomes completely minimised, it warrants mention that a strength of the traditional dissipation factor measurement is that it can typically be performed at a notably higher test voltage than that at which variable frequency dissipation factor tests can be performed and some dielectric problems require a higher voltage to expose them. Therefore, the author does not suggest that the dissipation factor diagnostic be usurped by variable dissipation factor measurements but then neither should it stand alone.

Acceptable variable frequency dissipation factor test results

(The author is with Omicron Electronics) Of particular interest is that the sister transformer to that displayed in Figure 2 above was tested as well. Figure 3 provides these test results, in addition to and superimposed on top of those already provided in Figure 2. Although CHL is 0.4 per cent for both transformers at 60 Hz, in one case the CHL insulation system is considered to be in acceptable condition (Transformer B with a water content that was subsequently determined to be one per cent) and in the other, unacceptable (Transformer A with a water content of 3.4 per cent as stated previously).

March2012

MiddleEastElectricity2012

THE 37TH EDITION OF MIDDLE EAST ELECTRICITY IN DUBAI ATTRACTED OVER 1,000 REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITORS, AND OVER 15,000 UNIQUE VISITORS.

he Middle East power sector is apparently booming with new power, water, and energy projects valued at $180 billion are underway or at the planning stages in the region, with the UAE accounting for 20 projects worth $34.2 billion. Spearheaded by the $20 billion nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi, which began construction late in 2011, the UAE is expected to be one of the most active markets in the power, water and energy sectors over the next two years even as power demand across the GCC area is projected to grow by 8-10% annually. The data, courtesy market research specialists Ventures Middle East, were released by the organisers of Middle East Electricity (MEE) 2012, one of the premier energy sector events in the region focussing on power, lighting, nuclear, renewable and water sectors. Organised by Informa and held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, 37th edition of Middle East Electricity was officially inaugurated

by His Excellency Dr Rashid Ahmed Bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment and Water. The three day event, which ran from February 7-9, 2012 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, attracted over 1,000 exhibitors from within the region and worldwide. The figures collated by Ventures Middle East in their pre-exhibition report highlight the sheer scale of project activity in the region’s energy sector, which has started attracting regional and international energy sector players in droves eager for a piece of the action. The lion’s share of investment value in the region belongs to Saudi Arabia thanks to the $100 billion King Abdullah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy, which begins construction in 2013. The Kingdom also has a further 15 projects worth nearly $9 billion currently underway, or due to begin in 2012. Qatar recently announced plans to build at least eight power and water plants worth $4.8 billion in the next three years, including the $3 billion Qatar Facility D power project. Bahrain has four ongoing projects worth $4.2 billion; Kuwait has 17 projects valued at $4 billion, while Oman has put aside $2.9 billion for 13 power, water and energy projects, with construction slated to begin this year. The World Energy Council contends that the GCC will require 100

GW of additional power over the next 10 years to meet growing demand, with the power sector alone requiring $50 billion worth of investments in new generating capacity. The massive project potential is reflected in the exhibition statistics too. Anita Mathews, Exhibition Director for Middle East Electricity pointed out that there was a 15% increase in exhibitor space this year compared to 2011, while preexhibition projected unique visitor numbers exceeded 15,000. Interestingly, almost 10% of the exhibitors in 2012 came from the renewable energy sector. Mathews noted out that the Middle East and Africa region is looking at an annual increase in the range of 10–18% in installed renewable capacity between 2010 and 2020.

specialreport EVENTS

Energy sector in spotlight

MEE Awards The 2012 edition also saw the launch of the first ever Middle East Electricity Awards, held on the opening night of the event at a gala dinner. The awards were contested by 29 departments, teams and organisations across six different categories. Ras Laffan B IWPP won in the category of Power & Water Utility of the Year. Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) and Ruud Lighting Arabia took home the Project of the Year Award for their collaboration on the Salaam Street and Tunnel project in the UAE capital.

March2012

EVENTS specialreport

MEE 2012 Exhibitor news Dubai-based cable manufacturer Ducab showcased its new range 66kV to 400 kV High Voltage (HV) cable systems manufactured at its newly inaugurated $500 million, 22,000 sq meters Ducab-HV manufacturing plant. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Ducab-HV manufacturing plant will offer the latest in global HV technology to the UAE and the region, increasing Ducabâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s production capacity by 15,000 tonnes of conductor, totaling 30,000 tonnes of cable annually,â&#x20AC;? said Colin McKay, Head of Sales and Marketing at Ducab. Bahrain-based Atlas Copco introduced its portable diesel driven generator sets and lighting towers, including the ultra tough HardHat design QAX range of portable generators. With a canopy constructed of linear medium density polyethelene (LMDP), the QAX30 30kVA portable generator is designed to be exceptionally durable, able to withstand the harshest of conditions and treatment. This was demonstrated during the three-day exhibition, when visitors passing the stand were offered a sledge hammer with which to inflict

as much damage upon the canopy of the generator as they could. Michael Sagermann, Regional Business Line Manager at Atlas Copco Middle East said that the ultra durable HardHat design increases the life and resale value of the portable generator, at the same time saving users on operational costs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Inevitably generators are bumped and scratched to various levels that make the machine look old and unattractive,â&#x20AC;? said Sagermann, who added that the lifespan of the QAX20 lasts years longer than normal portable generators, while holding an increased amount of its original price tag for resale versus conventional steel. In addition to the QAX30, Atlas Copco also showcased the QLTH40 lighting tower and the QAC1000 containerised generator for the first time at Middle East Electricity. Cat Dealer Mohamed Abdulrahman Al-Bahar and Caterpillar exhibited a number of products including the Cat 3516B generator set, which generates between 2000 and 2500 kVA at 50 Hz, and a Cat 60 kVA UPS. Caterpillar also announced that it will

be opening a new distribution centre in Dubai this year to make it easier to fulfil customer needs in the region. UK and US-based manufacturer Dialight Electricity showcased their latest LED light fittings and innovations designed specifically for industrial and hazardous locations including factories and oil rigs French company EUROCOOLER presented its innovative cooling radiators for transformers from 100 KVA to 1500 MVA while GWB International launched its Cooper brand of silent generating sets in the region.

Middle East Electricity 2012 Award Winners

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March2012

The canopy of Atlas Copcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s QAX30 portable generator being subjected to the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sledge hammerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; test at the exhibition.

BAHRAIN-BASED ATLAS COPCO INTRODUCED ITS PORTABLE DIESEL DRIVEN GENERATOR SETS AND LIGHTING TOWERS

H.E. Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, UAE Minister of Environment & Water oﬃcially inaugurated the exhibition

specialreport EVENTS

1. Best innovation or Technology of the Year Award being received by CIMCON Software's representatives. 2. Renewable Project of the Year Award being received by TLM International FZEDubai head. 3. HSE project or initiative of the Year Award being received by RasLaffan Power Company officials. 4. Power & Water Utility of the Year Award being received by Qatar Power Company officials. 5. Project of the Year Award being received by Ruud Lighting Arabia and Abu Dhabi Municipality representatives. 6. Group photo of the winners with the organisers of MEE.

March2012

EVENTS specialreport

GILMiddleEast

The path to visionary innovation FROST & SULLIVAN’S THIRD FLAGSHIP GIL 2012 CONGRESS IN DUBAI BROUGHT TOGETHER SENIOR EXECUTIVES FROM ACROSS INDUSTRIES IN MENA TO DISSECT THE IMPACT OF THE GLOBAL MEGA TRENDS ON THEIR BUSINESS, IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES AND DESIGN ACTIONABLE GROWTH STRATEGIES.

s companies’ endeavour to thrive in a rapidly accelerating global economy, their emphasis on innovation as well as leveraging industry’s best practices has grown multi-fold. But how to create a strong foundation for innovation; what is the importance of building the CEOs growth team; what are the most important Global Mega Trends – potential scenarios of specific trends in 2020 and how equipped are we to face these? How can one apply Mega Trends to identify ‘white spot’ opportunities and develop actionable growth strategies? These were some of the key questions addressed at Frost & Sullivan’s premier leadership event, Growth, Innovation and Leadership (GIL) 2012: Middle East, The Global Community of Growth, Innovation and Leadership, held on 19th February at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The Congress offered participants an opportunity to collaborate and brainstorm with Frost & Sullivan Growth Consultants and industry peers on how to effectively capitalise growth opportunities through industry specific groups. In his keynote speech, Aroop Zutshi, Global President and Managing Partner, Frost & Sullivan, shared his insights on ‘The Journey to Visionary Innovation,’ highlighting the significance of

March2012

leveraging innovation to survive in the future business environment. Some of the basic questions he tackled in his address included: where innovation comes from, how to nurture it, what do companies need to do today. Zutshi was followed by Dorman Followwill, Partner and Director, EIA, Frost & Sullivan, who took the agenda forward with Mega Trends Projections (part of Frost & Sullivan’s Visionary Innovation Research Programme) for the Middle East and their impact on companies, careers and industries in the region.

Dorman Followwill, Partner and Director, EIA, Frost & Sullivan

This set the stage for the interactive workshop where delegates were grouped according to their industries, namely, Defence, Energy, Environment, Healthcare, Information and Communication Technologies, Metals, Specialty Chemicals, Supply Chain and Logistics. The workshop focused on ways to leverage interactive tools to understand opportunities/threats arising out of future mega trends and to prepare contingency plans based on probable scenarios, prioritise seeking future new customers based on these trends in new geographies, emerging economies, as well as understand their new attitudes and preferences. The workshop also focused on aligning future Mega Trends with the current vision and strategy and aligning current strategy to the expected accelerating change in future technology, and needs of the ‘Customer of the Future.’ The objective of the programme was to adopt a Macro-to-Micro methodology of applying Mega Trends and help companies realise innovation opportunities. “It is important for companies in the Middle East to understand the global forces that are driving change. They also need to understand the risks involved, if they do not gear themselves for this change today. Through the workshops, it is our effort to get the companies to think beyond,

TechVision 2020 The Congress also witnessed the launch of the Flagship Research Programme ‘TechVision 2020’ by Technical Insights (TI), the Technology Research and Consulting division of Frost & Sullivan. The TI presentation outlined the Top 50 Technologies and Innovations that will reshape the world in the coming years. It provided an insight into how top emerging and innovative technologies will impact industries, strategies and business decisions in the Middle East. The Flagship Research was the culmination of efforts put in by over 50 global TI analysts based in six continents. The selected technologies are spread across nine technology clusters, which represent the bulk of R&D and innovation activity today. The structure of the programme was based on these nine technology clusters.

The Top Emerging Technologies revealed at the Congress were as follows: 1. Sensors and Automation: CBRN Detection Technologies, Energy Harvesting, Smart Sensors and Wireless Sensor Networks

Materials and Coatings: AlgaeBased Ingredients, Nanocatalysts, Advance Filtration, Smart Textiles, Compostable Packaging, Superhydrophobic Coatings, Enzyme Technology, Breathable Antibacterial Coatings, and Lightweight Composites

3. Conventional Energy: Enhanced Oil Recovery, Clean Coal and Advanced Hydrocracking

4. Information and Communications Technology: Cloud Computing, Virtualisation, Semantic Web, Fabric Computing and Long-Term Evolution

5. Microelectronics: LED Lighting Technologies, 3D Integration, Flexible Technologies, Haptics and Touch Technologies, Emerging Data Storage Technologies, Wireless Power Transmission and Next Generation Displays

6. Clean and Green Technology: Smart Grid, Thin Film Photovoltaic, Renewable Chemicals, Green Buildings, Advanced Energy Storage, Green Vehicles and second Generation Bio Fuels

7. Life sciences and Biotechnology: Genome Sequencing, Biosensing, Adult Stem Cells, Nanofluids and BioNEMS and 3D Cell Culture System

8. Medical Devices and Imaging Anand S, Research Director, Technical Insights, Frost & Sullivan

9. Advanced Manufacturing: Micro and Nano Manufacturing, Intelligent Robots, Digital Manufacturing and Advanced Lasers for Manufacturing Anand S, Research Director, Technical Insights, Frost & Sullivan, said: “While each Technology Cluster is an independent domain demonstrating excellence in Global R&D and innovation, all clusters are virtually interlocked. The vast arrays of current and future applications of these dynamic technologies are interdependent and overlapping. These emerging technologies are rapidly evolving and form a vortex of innovation driving new concepts, products, and services.” GIL 2012: Middle East also saw presentations on Best Practices in Steering towards Visionary Innovation and Best Practices in Leveraging an Organisation’s Growth Potential. The former was presented by Achuthan Nair, Vice President and Business Head, Professional Services Business (PSD), Wipro InfoTech and the latter by Mahindra Satyam.

specialreport EVENTS

take into account the technologies and innovation that we will witness by 2020, and thereafter develop an implementable growth strategy,” said Y S Shashidhar, Managing Director, Frost & Sullivan, Middle East and North Africa.

TECHVISION 2020 OUTLINED THE TOP 50 TECHNOLOGIES AND INNOVATIONS THAT WILL RESHAPE THE WORLD IN THE COMING YEARS

Technology: Digital Pathology, Smart Pills, Hybrid Imaging Technologies, Medical Robotics, Combination Devices and Optical Imaging Technologies

March2012

EVENTS specialreport

GILMiddleEast

MEGA TRENDS: WATER, WASTEWATER, SOLID WASTE

asidhar Chidanamarri, Industry Manager, Environment & Building Technologies Practice, MENASA presented on Top Mega Trends and their impact on the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Environment Sector - Water and Wastewater and Solid Waste Management. The mega trends impacting the sector include the eastward shift of the global economy towards Asia, rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and economic diversification. In the Middle East, the urban growth rate is about four per cent and 70% of the population is expected to live in urban areas by 2020, which will put already low levels of available water resources, pegged at 1,200 m3/person/year to further stress. Chidanamarri pointed out that Middle East region is faced with an uphill task of meeting the growing demand for water by industries, improving water supply and sanitation to the growing population, planning to prevent depletion and contamination and optimisation of available water resources. These challenges also present opportunities in the areas of wastewater recycle and reuse technologies, sea water desalination, waste to energy, and solid waste recycling. The Water and Wastewater Treatment Equipment Market in the GCC is expected to reach $2 billion by 2016, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of seven per cent over the next five years. Across the Middle East, a total of 39 million m3/day of desalination capacity is expected to be added by 2020. This translates into an approximate investment of $45-50 billion in the desalination sector. In wastewater treatment, the Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) market in the Middle East is slated to grow at a CAGR of 17.7% over the next five years. From Frost & Sullivan’s perspective, apart from building and developing assets related to water and sanitation, there is a need to put measures in place to maintain these assets in order to deliver better and efficient service to the citizens. Greater focus should also be on demand management – reducing water usage, losses, and minimising solid waste generation. Also, within the environment sector, with most end users are now seeking performance over price, there is tremendous scope for innovative and newer technologies like MBR and smart meters. Services market is another area of great opportunity where end users, industries in particular, are outsourcing the O&M aspect of water and effluent treatment plants, so that they can focus on their core competencies.

March2012

POWER T&D

bhay Bhargava, Industry Manager, Energy & Power Systems Practice, Middle East and North Africa on Top Mega Trends and their impact on the power sector. He pointed out that energy efficiency and ‘Innovating to Zero’ would be the most significant Mega Trend with multiple impacts on the region’s T&D sector. These include improved infrastructure and tighter control to reduce T&D losses, reduction in consumption owing to the coupling of direct control devices to smart grid infrastructure, peak shaving mechanisms becoming the preferred tool to control demand fluctuations, increase in demand for services that enable integration and increasing Remnant Life and overall Asset Integrity and unbundling of the T&D sector. Rapid urbanisation is expected to give strong impetus to the development of Smart Cities, Mega Cities and even Mega Corridors. These in turn, will require High Voltage networks to cater to the corridors/ megacities spread across vast tracts of land as well as a complete revamp of the existing distribution networks. The availability of commercialised and affordable 'Clean and Green Technology' is another Mega Trend that would impact the GCC's T&D sector. These include thin film PV, green buildings and advanced energy storage.As the broader MENA region invests significantly in infrastructure development in the aftermath of the social and political unrest, interconnection and power trading across countries and regions is expected to pick up paving the way for adoption of HV technologies as well as synchronisation and billing software. All these Mega Trends will drive the evolution of another Mega Trend, namely adoption of New Business Models. For example, currently power utilities in the GCC work on a model that allows them to increase profit by increasing consumption. However, the adoption of new technologies and solutions would eventually lead to a reduction in power consumption, which would negatively impact their earnings. Examples of such technologies include demand response management, feed-in-tariffs, smart meters and distributed generation. The best practices for the T&D sector from Frost & Sullivan’s standpoint include: • Benchmarking (by both the Govt. and Private sector) • Partnerships (for technology transfer, skills attainment, access to products) • New product/ technology adoption • Development of a facilitating services sector (Engineering, Design, Installation and Integration, Maintenance) • Encouraging a conducive investment climateountries • Skills development of native workforce • Enhanced regulatory framework to strike the right balance between quality assurance and technology adoption • Influence societal change, with an aim to encourage energy efficiency across all levels of consumption

The second MENA Water Leakage Summit will once again bring together stakeholders from the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water sector to explore and discuss current issues,best practices and regulations for leakage reduction.

JOIN US

for a two-day summit packed with presentations, panel debates, workshops to learn about the latest thinking and solutions in the water leakage domain from regional and international experts. Find out about practical approaches suited

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tenders&projects PROCUREMENT updates

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March2012

RFX-2131200014 Energy Efficiency Showcase Implementation Dubai Name: Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) Address: Head Office, Near Wafi Shopping Mall, Zabeel East City: Dubai Postal/Zip Code: 564 Country: United Arab Emirates Tel: (+971-4) 324 4444 Fax: (+971-4) 324 8111 E-mail: contracts@dewa.gov.ae Website: http://www.dewa.gov.ae Implementation of energy efficiency showcase through Energy Saving Companies (ESCOS) - Pilot Project for an electricity & water authority. 55 April 23, 2012 Tender No. RFX-2131200014 This tender service is in Dubai. Tender documents can be obtained from: Main Cashier, Head Office, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority Dubai, UAE. The tender cost is payable in cash or on-line through the website http://www.dewa.gov. ae under the title e-services. Tenders must be valid for acceptance for 120 days from the closing date. The Master Tender Document must be accompanied by a Tender Bond for an amount of not less than five per cent of the total Tendered Price. The Tender Bond shall be strictly in accordance with the Authority's prescribed specimen and valid for (150) calendar days following the last date fixed for receipt of Tender. Completed sealed tender documents should be addressed to: The Chairman, Board of Directors, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and deposited into the Tender

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Box at Authority's Head Office near Wafi Shopping Mall in Zabeel East, Dubai. Participants in the tender should submit the names of their Local Partners/Sponsors, having a valid Dubai Trade Licence along with a photocopy of their current licence. Power Generation & Distribution

ZPR518-J Attarat Um Ghudran Power Plant Project Jordan Name: National Electric Power Company - NEPCO (Jordan) Address: Zahran Street, 7th Circle City: 11118 Amman Postal/Zip Code: 618 Country: Jordan Tel: (+962-6) 581 8230 Fax: (+962-6) 581 8336 Design-Build-Operate (DBO) contract for the construction of an oil shale power plant with capacity of 600-900 megawatts (MW) in Attarat Um Ghudran. 2016 New Tender This project is in Jordan. The plant will use oil shale as feedstock. The purpose of this scheme is to reduce the cost of electricity generation. It is understood that a joint venture agreement has been signed between Estonia's Enefit, Malaysia's YTL Power International Berhad and local Near East Investments to implement the project. Negotiations are currently underway between the client and the joint venture for implementation of the project. This is expected to be completed in May 2012 and the PPA contract is expected to be signed soon after. Tender for the EPC contract is expected to be issued in the second half of 2012. Power Generation & Distribution

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PROCUREMENT updates

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March2012

ZPR622-U Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Power Plant Project - Phase 1 Dubai Name: Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) Address: Head Office, Near Wafi Shopping Mall, Zabeel East City: Dubai Postal/Zip Code: 564 Country: United Arab Emirates Tel: (+971-4) 324 4444 Fax: (+971-4) 324 8111 E-mail: contracts@dewa.gov.ae Website: http://www.dewa.gov.ae Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a solar power plant with capacity of 10 MW using photovoltaic technology, as part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project Phase 1. 33,000,000 2013 New Tender This project is at Seih Al Dahal in Dubai. The purpose of the plant is to meet the increasing national demand for electricity and to diversify the energy sources. It is part of governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan to diversify the sources of energy, targeting solar energy to supply one per cent of Dubaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s energy by 2020 and five per cent by 2030. The government will finance this project. It is understood that the project is currently under Stage 1 (Design). The main contract is expected to be awarded by third quarter of 2012. Electricity generation at the plant is expected to commence by fourth quarter of 2013. ILF Consulting Engineers (Abu Dhabi) Power Generation &

DistributionGT11113500-Q Electrical Network Upgrade Works Project Qatar

Client

Description

Tender Cost $ Closing Date Status Remarks

Name: Qatar Petroleum (QP) City: Doha Postal/Zip Code: 3212 Country: Qatar Tel: (+974) 4440 2000 Fax: (+974) 4483 1125/ 4449 1400/ 4483 1995 E-mail: contracts.services@ qp.com.qa Website: http://www.qp.com.qa Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for upgrading the 33kV electrical network at Dukhan Fields. 140 March 18, 2012 New Tender Tender No. GT11113500 This project is in Qatar. The scope of work involves enhancing the power supply reliability, stability, safety, solidity and protection of electrical system and equipment for 33kV electrical network. Tender documents can be obtained from: Contracts Department Operations Division, Royal Plaza Bldg, 4th Floor, Room No. G13, Qatar Petroleum Doha, Qatar. Tender documents will be released only to authorised company representatives with following documentations: (i) Letter of authorisation on company letterhead (ii) Valid Qatar I.D. (iii) Valid copy of Commercial Registration. The non-refundable tender fee is payable to: Doha Bank Ltd. QP branch, Ras Abu Aboud, Doha, Qatar OR Qatar National Bank QP branch, 2nd floor, Al Sadd Plaza, Doha, Qatar. Bid bond is QR 200,000. Bond validity is (150) days from the bid closing date till May 16, 2012

middleeasttenders.com +971 2 634 8495

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ZPR588-SA Rabigh IPP - Phase 2 Saudi Arabia Name: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia) Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad Road City: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955 Country: Saudi Arabia Tel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009 Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222 E-mail: informus@se.com.sa Website: http://www.se.com.sa Build-Own-Operate (BOO) contract for the construction of an independent power project (IPP) with capacity of 1,700 MW at Rabigh - Phase 2. 2017 New Tender This project is in Makkah region. It aims at meeting the increasing demand for power in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. The scheme is currently under planning and awaiting land agreements and other permits to be secured. It is understood that request for Expression of Interest (EoIs) for the BOO contract is expected to be issued in March 2012. Prequalification process for the BOO contract is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2012. Fichtner Consulting Engineers (Saudi Arabia) Citigroup (USA) Power Generation & Distribution

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Project Number 28/2012-O/2 Project Name Overhead Lines Construction Project-5

Territory Oman Client Name: Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) Address: Postal Code 131

Description

City: Al-Hamriya Postal/Zip Code: 1224 Country: Oman Tel: (+968-2) 457 3221 Fax: (+968-2) 457 3222 E-mail: webmaster@ omangrid.com Website: http://www.oman grid.com Construction of 400kV (220kV) overhead lines from Izki to Sur Independent Power Project (IPP). 7,695 April 23, 2012 New Tender Tender No. 28/2012 This project is in Oman. The tender is open to companies Specialised in electrical works and registered with Tender Board and Distribution code Review Panel with relevant Grade. Tender documents can be obtained from: Tender Board Al Khuwair, Oman. Website: www.tenderboard.gov. om Last date to collect tender document is March 28, 2012. Tender opening date will be on April 23, 2012. Power Generation & Distribution

updates PROCUREMENT

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and offer validity is (120) days from the bid closing date till April 16, 2012. Power Generation & Distribution

27/2012-O/2 Musandam Power Project Oman Name: Rural Areas Electricity Company (Oman) Address: Subsidiary of Electricity Holding Company S.A.O.C City: Mina Al-Fahal PC 116 Postal/Zip Code: 850 Country: Oman Tel: (+968) 2469 5162 / 2447 3251 Fax: (+968) 2469 5311 Website: http://www.ehcoman. com Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a double-circuit 132kV

March2012

PROCUREMENT updates

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March2012

overhead transmission line with associated 132/33/11kV grid substations in Musandam governorate. 795 April 23, 2012 New Tender Tender No. 27/2012 This project is in Oman. The tender is open to companies Specialized in electrical works and registered with Tender Board. Tender documents can be obtained from: Tender Board Al Khuwair, Oman. Website: www.tenderboard. gov.om Last date to collect tender document is March 28, 2012. Tender opening date will be on April 23, 2012. Power Generation & Distribution

MPP2208-O Duqm Independent Water & Power Project Oman Name: Oman Power & Water Procurement Company S.A.O.C Address: Muscat International Centre, 2nd Floor, Suite 504 City: Ruwi PC 112 Postal/Zip Code: 1388 Country: Oman Tel: (+968) 2482 3028 / 2482 3000 E-mail: ahmed.busaidi@ omanpwp.com Website: http://www.omanpwp. co.om Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a gas-fired independent water and power plant (IWPP) at Duqm. 2,000,000,000 10/01/2016 New Tender This project is in Oman. The feasibility study is expected to be completed in March

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2012 and details regarding schedule and structure of the project are expected to be revealed thereafter. The study will determine whether the project will be connected with the main interconnected system (MIS). It will also consider the size of this new project, timing and fuel. If the project is made separate from MIS, it may have a power generation capacity of around 100-200 MW. If it is part of the MIS, it could have a capacity of 500-1,000 MW. Request for proposals (RFP) for the main contract is expected to be issued in the second half of 2013. Project is now expected to be completed in January 2016. Parsons Brinckerhoff International (USA) WorleyParsons (Oman) KPMG (Oman) Simmons & Simmons (Germany) Potable Water Works Power Generation & Distribution

GT12102400-Q PFC Equipment Qatar Name: Qatar Petroleum (QP) City: Doha Postal/Zip Code: 3212 Country: Qatar Tel: (+974) 4440 2000 Fax: (+974) 4483 1125/ 4449 1400/ 4483 1995 E-mail: contracts.services@ qp.com.qa Website: http://www.qp.com.qa Engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning of PFC equipment for 33 kV electrical network to a petroleum company. 140 March 25, 2012 New Tender ender No. GT12102400 This tender supply is in Qatar. Tender documents can be obtained from: Contracts Department -

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Engineering Division, Qatar Petroleum Fareej Bin Dirham, Al-Handasa Complex, Mezzanine F1, Room A-M03, B-Ring road, Doha, Qatar. Tender documents will be released only to authorised company representatives with Letter of Authorisation on company Letterhead. The non-refundable tender fee is payable to: Doha Bank Ltd. QP branch, Ras Abu Aboud, Doha, Qatar OR Qatar National Bank QP branch, 2nd floor, Al Sadd Plaza, Doha, Qatar. STC & LTC Tenders - Fee per tender QR 200.00 GTC Tenders - Fee per Tender QR 500.00. Bid bond is QR 4,500,000. Bond validity is (150) days from the bid closing date till August 22, 2012 and offer validity is (120) days from the bid closing date till July 23, 2012. Power Generation & Distribution

March2012

calendar2012 EVENTS calendar

26 – 29 MARCH

Dubai

ARABLAB 2012 ARABLAB, now in its 29th year, is regarded by the analytical industry as one of its most influential annual events. Attracting buyers, specifiers, end-users and distributors from some 85 countries, the event’s catchment area includes the growth markets of the Middle East, Africa, the Indian sub-continent and China. Divided into five main sectors – EnviroLab, MediLab, BioLab, PetroLab and NanoLab – and focussing on Environmental Sciences, Measurement & Testing, Clinical Diagnostics, Drug Discovery & Development, Forensics & Security, Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Energy & Petrochemicals, Agriculture & Food, Research & Development, Instrumentation, Nano Technology, Laboratory Technology, and Robotics & Automation, the event attracts over 10,000 visitors on average. The exhibition has over 700 companies exhibiting from over 50+ countries, while the seminars programme features over 70 top line presentations with a dedicated focus on key elements of the industry. ARABLAB 2012 will be held at Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre’s Sheikh Saeed Halls.

Contact: David Domoney

6-9 MAY

Muscat

Oman Power & Water Summit 2012 Following the success of Oman Power & Water Summit 2011, IQPC and GEC have announced that the 2nd Annual Oman Power & Water Summit will take place at the Grand Hyatt Muscat. Developed in cooperation with the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) and with the official support of Ministry of Regional Municipalities & Water Resources (MRMWR), Oman Power & Water Procurement Company (OPWP), Authority for Electricity Regulation (AER), Electricity Holding Company (EHC) and Rural Areas Electricity Company (RAECO), the 2012 edition will provide an update on power and water projects in Oman, present the latest innovations and strategies available in the power, water and renewable energy industry as well as review the authorities' key strategies, objectives and challenges in terms of management and conservation of power and water resources.

Contact: Rozenn Cornec

Tel: + 971 4 364 2975 E-mail: enquiry@iqpc.ae URL: www.omanpowerandwater.com

Tel: +971 4 397 54 18 Mobile: +971 50 458 1124 E-mail:david@arablab.com URL: www.arablab.com

13-15 MAY

Dammam

WEPOWER 2012 Now in its eighth year, the Water, Electricity and Power Generation (WEPower) Forum has become an annual meeting place to discuss strategies and project opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Forum is supported by the Ministry of Water and Electricity, National Water Company, SEC, SWCC and the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority. List of confirmed speakers for the conference include H.E. Dr Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim, Governor, SWCC; H.E. Loay Al-Musallam, CEO, National Water Company; Abhay Bhargava, Industry Manager, Energy and Power Systems, Middle East and North Africa, Frost & Sullivan; Dr Corrado Somarriva, President, IDA and Abdulrazzag

March2012

Hijan, General Manager Privatisation and Commercial Affairs, SWCC. The 2011 exhibition hosted over 100 international companies showcasing the latest technologies and initiatives in water and power. WEPower takes place at the Dhahran International Exhibition Centre, Dammam.

Contact: Glen Miller

Tel: + 44 - 203 328 6524 E-mail: glen@bme-global.com URL: www.wepower-sa.com

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