Utilities Middle East - March 2010

Middle East

An ITP Business Publication

ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS FOR MIDDLE EAST WATER, GAS AND ELECTRICITY PROFESSIONALS March 2010 • Vol 4. Issue 3

Licensed by Dubai Media City

An ITP Business Publication

MICROSOFT’S SMART GRID SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS REVEALED

REVERSING ROLESReverse osmosis: its most signifi cant discovery

TRICKLING TREATMENT

Septech’s unconventional sewage recycling system

Is solar power set to make a breakthrough

in the region?

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CONTENTS

www.utilities-me.com March 2010 ● Utilities Middle East 1

2 COMMENTWhen will solar power make a true Middle East breakthrough?

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

10 REVERSE OSMOSISDow Water & Process Solu-tions explains the technological discovery which changed the face of reverse osmosis.

13 SMART SOFTWAREMicrosoft’s utilities executives reveal their thoughts on the soft-ware behind smart grids and how they can be better implemented.

18 SOLAR POWERA comprehensive look at the solar power inudstry in the Middle East and how it can move forward.

24 KUWAIT PROFILEUME takes a look at the power and water sector of Kuwait and examines Honeywell’s case study in the country.

27 SEWAGE TREATMENTSeptech introduces its under-ground bio filtration treatment system being used in palaces acorss the region.

31 INTERVIEWWhat new technology is Alstom currently employing and how is the firm moving forward?

38 TENDERSOpportunities available in the Middle East.

40 PEOPLE METEROpen Systems International’s Abed Hamilah explains how his firm is attempting to crack the Middle East market.

March 2010Issue 3

1027

18

David Heffernan, CEO, Septech. Bill Mickols, Dow Water & Processing.

Sylvain Hijazi, Alstom Power. 31

Solar power in the Middle East.

40

Abed Hamilah, OSI.

COMMENT

2 Utilities Middle East ● March 2010 www.utilities-me.com

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I n 1977 during a televised speech, Jimmy Carter, the then President of the United States said: “Because we are now running

out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.”

That was 33 years ago. Today, would we be shocked if we saw the same message conveyed by Barack Obama? It represents a startling lack of progress in the fi elds of renewable energy and solar power. In the Middle East we have an unlim-ited amount of sun, yet still this region is not at the forefront of the solar power industry. Some-thing is holding it back, whether it is politically or fi nancially motivated.

But a hope remains for the region, and it comes in the form of the companies involved, and their government links. Masdar has been pushing solar forward and it recently invested in the PV technology fi rm Environmena.

This fi rm is now enjoying the added scope of business which such strong government con-tacts can provide. But should this be the case? Surely if renewable energy is as important as pol-

iticians and governments constantly remind us, it should be as free a market as possible.

One major move which could accelerate the solar power sector in the Middle East, is the intro-duction of feed-in tariffs, which encourage end users and utilities to make use of solar energy. But that step has not been taken, despite fi rms within the sector crying out for it.

In this month’s edition of Utilities Middle East, we delve into the solar power question, with the opinions of both established companies in the region, and those of companies attempting to break through here.

We also take a look at the software behind smart grids, courtesy of two Microsoft execu-tives. They explain how these systems can bring us a better grasp on the renewables question.

Now the introduction of smart grid technology has given solar power a base from which to work and in some respect signs appear to be encourag-ing. Perhaps now is the time when solar power will fi nally come out from behind the clouds.

Peter Ward, Senior Writer E-mail: [email protected]

Here comes the sun?The solar power sector may finally be set to emerge

Middle East

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REGIONAL UPDATE


Aggreko signs $75m Oman, Panama contracts

Bahrain eyes power connection Bahrain to connect to UAE grid by 2011 with further connections to follow in region

Bahrain has already connected to the Saudi, Kuwait and Qatar grids and now hopes to fi nalise connections to the UAE and Oman grids.

Bahrain is on course to connect its electricity grid to the UAE by Janu-ary 2011 if not earlier, according to the CEO of the Kingdom’s electric-ity and water authority (EWA).

Dr Abdulmajeed Ali Alawadhi said that the GCC interconnection project had not been affected by the global fi nancial slowdown.

“On July 27, Bahrain’s energy grid was connected to Saudi, Kuwait and Qatar,” he said in an interview with research fi rm Oxford Business Group (OBG).

“The next phase will see connec-tion with the UAE in early 2011. The issue of interconnection to Oman is being fi nalised and it is hoped that the network interconnection to Oman will be operational immedi-ately after the UAE.”

Alawadhi added that alternative energy was also under the spotlight in Bahrain following a decision to develop solar and wind plant facili-ties in the Kingdom.

“Solar and wind are available worldwide as commercially viable solutions,” he told OBG.

“A small solar wind plant will be built to produce electricity both to use as a prototype and to be com-mercially viable.”

Although fi nancing of infrastruc-ture projects has been an issue for private companies responsible for power and water projects in Bah-

Aggreko has signed two major con-tracts worth a combined $75m, to supply 215MW of temporary power in Oman and Panama.

The Panama contract, thought to be Aggreko’s largest to date in Latin America, will see the fi rm pro-vide 100MW to the national grid over 12 months. Aggreko will pro-vide base load power for the grid at two locations at up at 115,000 volts.

The second deal, with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, will see Aggreko supply 115MW across fi ve sites in the Arab sultanate during the summer months of the year.

The Glasgow-based fi rm pro-vides short-term and emergency power to national grids, utilities and major events such as the Bah-rain F1 and the Winter Olympics.

In a statement, Aggreko’s chief executive, Rupert Soames, said: “These two contracts underline the global reach of Aggreko, and the ability to deliver power cost-effec-tively for short periods of time to help utilities overcome temporary shortfalls.”

The company, which lists on the FTSE 100, employs more than 3,500 people worldwide including about 200 at its Glasgow headquarters.

DEWA private contract popularMore than thirty companies have applied to advise Dubai on its fi rst privately-operated power and water plant, the head of government-run utility Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said.

The utility of Dubai said last month it wanted to boost private sector involvement in its power and water sector to save costs.

The move marks a policy change for the UAE government, which had until now owned and oper-ated all Dubai’s power plants and insisted no help was neccessary.

rain, Alawadhi remained upbeat that the works would now be able to gather pace.

“We are working with private developers to solve the fi nance issues they had with the banks so Bahrain’s energy infrastructure projects remain on track.” he said.

“Some of the private sector’s electricity and water projects were delayed because fi nancing fell through when the global economic crisis hit.”

“However, the fi nancing is now in place and the projects are moving ahead,” Alawadhi concluded.

Aggreko was also last month involved in the powering of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The fi rm supplied temporary power for the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games in Canada.

“This is the 10th Olympic Games that Aggreko have worked on and we are excited to be helping the Van-couver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games host a special and memorable experience,” explained Soames prior to the event.

Aggreko had over 100 people working in Vancouver.

REGIONAL UPDATE


Abdulla Saif al Nuaimi, director of privatisation at ADWEA said prequalifi cation has started.

Abu Dhabi invites bidsTender bids for US$2bn power plant now welcomedThe head of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA) has said that the emirate is to invite tender bids for the construc-tion of a US$2 billion power plant in March.

Reuters reported that Abdulla Saif al Nuaimi, director of priva-tisation at ADWEA said that the plant will have a capacity of 1,600 megawatts and will help Abu Dhabi ramp up capacity to service its booming domestic demand for power in the emirate.

“We have started the process of prequalifi cation and we are tar-geting sending the request for pro-posals (RFPs) early next month,” Nuaimi told Reuters.

“We expect to fi nalise selection of the developer by November this year, [make the] fi nancial close by April 2011 and commissioning in summer 2013,” he added.

The new plant will be con-structed using the independent power project (IPP) model which

allows foreign engineering and contracting fi rms to take a stake in the project.

The UAE is taking steps to deal with the huge boom in domestic demand for electricity.

In late 2009 it was announced that a South Korean consortium had won a $40 billion deal to con-struct a number of nuclear power facilities in the Gulf state, marking the countries fi rst nuclear project.

DUPONT INVESTS $175M IN PV EXPANSIONDuPont has announced an investment of US$175 mil-lion to complete the multi-phase expansion of its Ted-lar PV2001 series orientated fi lm production line. Tedlar fi lm is a component of pho-tovoltaic backsheets. The expansion will take place at the DuPont CircleV-ille, Ohio, facility and will use existing and retrofi t-ted assets. The increased capacity means the fi rm can support global demand of over 10GW of photovoltaic module production.

EGYPT LAUNCHES THER-MAL POWER INTERNA-TIONAL TENDERThe Ministry of Electricity in Egypt has launched the fi rst international tender for a thermal power generation plant in the country under the build-operate-own (BOO) system, local media has reported. The power plant will have two 750MW units, with the possibility of a third unit being established at a later date, Al-Ahram has reported.

$104M CONTRACT AIMS TO IMPROVE UAE POWER CAPACITYUtility chiefs in the UAE have awarded a $104m contract in a bid to increase power supplies to the northern emirates.ABB on Tuesday announced it had won an order from FEWA (Federal Electricity and Water Authority) to supply substations in an effort to meet a growing demand for electricity.

HIGHLIGHTS

DEWA readies $1.7bn investment warchestDubai Water and Electricity Com-pany (DEWA) has set aside a $1.7bn warchest to continue bring-ing new projects online.

In a press statement made to announce the March launch of util-ities exhibition WETEX, the organ-isation’s chief executive indicated

that the money would also be used to complete a number of current projects yet to be fi nished.

“This show comes at a time when DEWA has allocated Dhs6.42bn ($1.7bn) to implement new proj-ects and complete current ones in the fi elds of electricity and water,

The Wetex exhibition, held in the Dubai Convention and Exhibition Centre

March 9-11

as part of its strategy to enhance the productivity of its network and plants,” DEWA CEO and manag-ing director Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said.

Al Tayer provided no further details as to how the money would be disbursed.

The changing domestic environ-ment has led to DEWA’s decision to boost private sector involve-ment in Dubai’s power and water market by launching the emir-ate’s fi rst Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP).

The IWPP model is already heav-ily in use in neighbouring Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Oman and is now set for Dubai.

REGIONAL UPDATE


SWCC in multi-million dollar revamp for plantsSaline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC), the Saudi state run util-ity, is spending hundreds of mil-lions of dollars to revamp its power and water plants, in an attempt to extend their lifespan, an SWCC offi cial has said.

The revamp would lengthen the lifespan of SWCC’s plants, saving the cost of having to build new facil-ities, SWCC’s vice governor for operation and maintenance affairs, Thabet Al Luhibi, said.

Power demand in Saudi Arabia is growing at around 7% per year, and this is stretching the grid of the Kingdom, as it spends billions of dollars expanding its economy.

“If I build a new plant today, def-initely production would cost me more than extending the lifespan of the existing plant,” Luhibi said.

The government has made around 1.3 billion riyals available ($346.7 million) for future work, Luhibi said, on top of the 3.5 bil-

Qatar studying Areva Qatar considers investing petroleum revenue in nuclear power

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani.

Qatar may invest in Areva SA in order to help the company fund an expansion in the nuclear power market, the Prime Minister of the country has revealed.

“We are studying the matter,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al Thani said at a meeting with reporters in Doha.

Qatar is the holder of the world’s third biggest natural gas reserves and plans to raise its liquefi ed nat-ural gas (LNG) output by 42% this year, and is using the increased revenue from petroleum to fund investments in international com-panies such as Areva.

Last year the country increased its stake in Volkswagen AG to 17% and the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar is also the largest share-holder in Sainsbury Plc and Bar-clays Plc, according to data com-piled by Bloomberg.

Areva chief executive offi -cer Anne Lauvergeon revealed that the fi rm had found investors willing to participate in a capital increase.

In June last year, the company said it planned to sell a 15% stake and divest its power grid opera-

lion riyals SWCC has already spent since launching the overhaul back in 2001.

Extending the life of just over half the plants would save the king-dom around 1 billion riyals per year, he said.

SWCC is the second largest power producer in Saudi Arabia and has 36 power and water plants across the Kingdom, which account for 5,000MW of power and 3.2 mil-lion cubic metres of water.

tion to fi nance the expansion. The transmission and distribution unit of Areva was sold for more than $5.5 billion, Lauvergeon revealed.

Areva also recently announced it had acquired the solar thermal sys-

tems manufacturer Ausra. The deal is expected to be completed in six months and Areva has described the agreement as a way of launch-ing the fi rm’s new global solar energy business.

QATAR COOL LAUNCHES DC PLANTQatar District Cooling Com-pany has announced the op-erational launch of its second plant in the West Bay area of Doha, Qatar. The plant has a capacity of 37,000TR and is connected through a network to the fi rst plant which Qatar Cool built in the area, back in 2006. “At Qatar Cool we are pro-gressing quickly in imple-menting a comprehensive district cooling system that compliments the rapid growth of Qatar. Our district cooling system will allow for a greener, more economical way of cooling in the home, at work and in people’s lei-sure spaces,” reveals Fayad Al Khatib, Qatar Cool general manager.

MAJAN ELECTRICTY TO IN-VEST $57MThe Muscat based Majan Electricity Company is to invest RO 22 million (US$ 57 million) into new projects over the next year, local me-dia has reported. The development plans are intended to help the com-pany keep pace with grow-ing demand in Oman, which estimated to be at 7% per annum.

QATAR EXPECTED TO AWARD POWER DEAL IN 2010Qatar is expected to award a deal for a new 2,000MW power plant this year, a senior offi cial from the Qatar Power company has revealed. The country faces a potential power shortage of around 300-350MW from late 2010.

HIGHLIGHTS

REGIONAL UPDATE


Smart grid sector set to boomGlobal market to increase to $15.8bn by 2015 according to new report

The smart grid market is expected to increase considerably by 2015, according to reports.

The global smart grid market is expected to grow from US$4.5bn to $15.8bn by 2015, according to a report by Lux Research.

The report states that countries around the world are planning to add intelligence to their power grids, and investment in the sector is now expected to increase rapidly.

“The smart grid offers huge opportunities for investors, compa-nies and utilities. But many of those opportunities are fast-moving tar-gets,” said Jacob Grose, a senior analyst at Lux Research, and the report’s lead author.

“The most successful players will be those who can navigate a shifting

sive growth. Analysis and services revenues could make up the largest piece of smart grid business by 2015. While revenues are currently below

landscape of market segments, and partner with companies able to cap-italise on opportunities before their competition,” he added.

According to the report, the mea-surement and communication seg-ment of smart grids has the early momentum and is expected to top $5bn by 2015. Smart meters and supporting networking infrastruc-ture technologies are seeing the earliest growth, as governments and utilities recognise that better management of electrons fi rst requires better management of information across the grid.

It also states that the analysis and services segment is poised for explo-

$1.4bn, companies in this sector will likely see them grow at a 30% CAGR, leading to revenue totalling over $6.7bn by 2015.

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WEB HIGHLIGHTS


62.0%

ONLINE ANALYSIS

Top Masdar execs quit as bosses order rethink

Two top executives are believed to have quit the fi rm, as CEO Sultan Al Jaber is understood to have demanded a rethink of the project, and a six week review of the development.

ONLINE ANALYSIS

Most popular headlines1. Top Masdar execs quit 2. ABB secures Abu Dhabi water contract3. Qatar signs deal with German solar panel maker4. UAE, US strengthen nuclear ties5. GE signs Pakistan MoU6. Hans Blix heads UAE’s nuclear advisory group7. Aggreko powers winter olympics8. Areva bags India power deal9. Japan and Saudi to create desalination giant10. GE wins $200m Iraq contracts

BREAKING NEWS AND VIEWS FIRST

Hans Blix heads UAE’s nuclearadvisory group

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Qatar signs deal with German solar panel maker

Smart grids can save GCC up to US$10 billion

Former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will head up the UAE’s advisory group on nuclear power in the country.

Smart metering and smart grids can save GCC utilities and governments US$5-10bn according to a report by AT Kearney.

SolarWorld AG is to produce silicon, the main ingredient in solar-energy panels, in the Emirate of Qatar.

EDITOR’S PICK

Expert view: The automa-tion knowledge crisisJeff Swindler reveals the problems surrounding automation knowledge in an exclusive article for Utilities-ME.com.

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REVERSE OSMOSIS

10 Utilities Middle East ● March 2010

“Today, the productivity of a single seawater reverse osmosis element has tripled”

Bill Mickols, senior research scientist at Dow Water & Process Solutions

sis membrane they have improved even more.

Today, the productivity of a single seawater reverse osmosis element has tripled, and the water quality being produced by the same ele-ment has also improved so you are not only purifying more water from the elements, but you are also get-ting improved, pure water quality.

High productivity seawater ele-ments were not considered useful because of design limits in seawa-ter plants. With the advent of rejec-tions exceeding 99.75% and new chemistry to give elements three to four times higher productivity, we found we needed new designs. With our new chemistry we had uniquely developed seawater elements at 12,000 to 14,000 gpd range. This allowed us to place different element types at the beginning and the end of the vessels keeping the productivity nearly constant through the vessel. Normally, the productivity dropped by a factor of eight to 10.

This allowed us to produce twice the water from the same vessel. This

www.utilities-me.com

Can you provide details of your study into the kinetics of interfacial polymerisation?The kinetics of interfacial polymeri-sation is very different from other chemistries because it is diffusion controlled, which means it is so fast that it is almost impossible to change. This led me to look a four or fi ve very different approaches to control the polymerisation.

It is very diffi cult to improve the amount of water going through the membrane, or fl ux, and at the same time reduce the amount of salt going through the membrane. The extra low energy (XLE) chemis-try increased the fl ux by more than 100%, and produced higher rejec-tion for the same fl uxes for already produced membranes. This not only gave us the brackish water XLE but also the seawater XLE and ULE membrane. These were the highest fl ux reverse osmosis mem-branes at their time.

Our basic chemistry understand-ing of kinetics and packing of the FT-30 polymer allowed us to change

Bill Mickols, senior research scientist at Dow Water & Process Solutions, on his major breakthrough in reverse osmosis technology

the membrane performance with no detectable change in polymer struc-ture. Basic chemistry of polymers and how water moves through poly-mers still offers us massive improve-ments in designing improved per-formance into reverse osmosis membranes. These types of studies will give us fl ux, fouling resistance and rejection improvements. These changes will be the fuel for further savings in water costs.

How did this work change the course of reverse osmosis desalination?Throughout the 1960s, reverse osmosis membrane technology remained relatively expensive and

Reversinga trend

cost-prohibitive for many compa-nies and municipalities to imple-ment. With the advances made through both my work and John Cadotte’s, we’ve managed to create an industry-breakthrough that has lowered the price point of reverse osmosis technology while enabling growth in the use of reverse osmo-sis membranes for water purifi ca-tion. Using a unique spiral-wound design previously never used in the industry, John Cadotte and I pro-duced a high-recovery membrane element with improved water fl ux and greater ability to tolerate pH and temperature variation.

Over the last 20 years since John invented the FT-30 reverse osmo-

REVERSE OSMOSIS


is by defi nition a doubling of the vessel effi ciency, and can be used to cut the cost of the reverse osmosis segment by 50%.

A more useful approach is to use this concept to go to higher recov-ery and decrease the costs of the pretreatment and the reverse osmo-sis portion. This concept is called an internally staged design. Since this work occurred, every mem-brane manufacturer is now fi ghting to enter this high effi ciency market. The internally staged design con-cept was fi rst trialed in the EUWP mobile desalination system.

Years later, this research proto-type was also used successfully to provide water to the Biloxi Region Medical Center in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

One of the other benefi ts of the reverse osmosis membranes is that even though you are supplying

energy to a pump and that pump is pressurising water in order to push the raw water through the reverse osmosis membrane, the energy can come from any source.

It can come from a traditional fossil power plant, or through a com-bination of fossil and wind power, like some desalination plants in Aus-tralia. So, reverse osmosis now has the ability to use the cheapest local energy available, as well.

What is in the pipeline for the future?Reverse osmosis membrane effi -ciency should continue to improve, and in my opinion is a very bright path for the future—not only in high-pressure applications, but also in low pressures.

For instance, there is a lot of effort now going into wastewater reuse.

BILL MICKOLS IN PROFILE

Bill Mickols is a research scientist for Filmtec Inc – acquired by Dow Water & Process Solutions. He worked with the late John Cadotte in 1969 in discovering a key element of membrane chemistry that enabled manufacturers to reduce the cost of reverse osmosis membranes. Bill has been recently selected by the American Chemical Society (ACS) as a

co-recipient for the 2009 Heroes of Chemistry Award.In 2009 Bill Mickols has been named to the board of directors

for the North American Membrane Society (NAMS). NAMS is the only professional society in North America that promotes all aspects of membrane science and technology, ranging from fundamental studies of membrane material science to process application and development. As a board member, Mickols worked with NAMS to foster the development and dissemina-tion of knowledge in membrane science and technology, as well as promote the collaborative efforts of researchers, tech-nologists and end-users in the synthetic membrane community.

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SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY


John Arnold, managing director and Larry Cochrane, industry technology strategist of Microsoft’s worldwide power and utilities industry division, explain the software behind smart grid systems

Smart

estimated cost of £7 billion to £9 billion. According to a recent IDC report, in EMEA intelligent grid IT spending will reach $8 billion in 2010 and this is expected to grow by 27% in the next three years .

In the United States it is esti-mated that some $70 billion will be spent on smart grid projects in the next few years, and that many tens of billions more will be spent at util-ities around the world.

Additionally, in November 2008, the Chinese government approved a $629 billion stimulus plan, includ-ing approximately $169 billion for utilities. And, the Indian govern-ment currently has a programme

Smart grid is the hot topic on every utility executive’s mind around the world.

The European Commission esti-mates that US€1 trillion will be spent improving Europe’s electric-ity network and generation capac-ity by 2030 in response to supply challenges, security requirements and climate change. As a result, the deployment of smart grids will play an important role. In France, some €6.2 billion will be spent on smart grid initiatives from 2009-2016. In the UK, new meters will be installed with in-home informa-tion displays over the next 10 years - a total of 26 million installed at an

Software



energy generation sources . The smart grid, or smart energy

ecosystem as Microsoft defi nes it, becomes smart by injecting soft-ware into the various control points in the power system, so that house-holds and businesses have ready access to timely, user-friendly information that can help them make smart choices about their energy use. While adding data acquisition solutions to a smart energy ecosystem helps provide additional, valuable data, the real benefi t will be the insights cre-ated by the integration of ecosys-tem-wide information and the anal-ysis and presentation of the infor-mation.

ESTABLISHING NEW BUSINESS MODELSUtility industry executives are increasingly concerned about the possible costs involved in changing their business models to enable the development of the smart energy ecosystem. For example, utility company CIOs who have responsi-bility for data collection and ware-housing for millions of customers, as well as all related business and generating operations, are look-ing for solutions that help in-house staff to support and fully respond to the challenges of smart grid scale and interoperability.

The transition of the power and utilities business to the new smart energy ecosystem may well be the most signifi cant change to shape the industry since its inception. New processes such as end use loads dynamically participating in the ecosystem in a meaningful way, and new data requirements such as the 2,880 fold increase moving from one customer bill-ing sample per month to 15 minute samples for a 30-day month, will signifi cantly change the land-scape. Smart metering, automo-tive electric propulsion, renew-able generation, new communica-tions, new business models and a

underway that has an estimated $1.5 billion targeted for smart grid technologies. As the Hindustan Times puts it, “India is gasping for energy,” with 76 million rural households that have never turned on their fi rst light bulb, and pro-jections for 700,000 megawatts of additional generation to support its expanding economy and popu-lation. Approximately $450 million will be invested in smart grid proj-ects in Australia, Sweden, Switzer-land and Turkey in the next few years, according to news reports.

US Federal government involve-ment in smart grid development also will provide signifi cant impe-tus, and business opportunities. For example, President Barack Obama recently announced $3.4 billion in government grants to improve the effi ciency of the nation’s electric power transmis-sion network.

The grants will be used to replace the country’s ageing electricity transmission system with smart-grid technologies to improve trans-mission effi ciency and reliabil-ity and accommodate additional

Jon Arnold, managing director, Microsoft’s worldwide power and utilities industry.

“The smart grid becomes smart by injecting software into the various control points in

the power system ”

SMART GRID SAVINGS

Smart metering and smart grids can save GCC utilities and governments US$5-10bn, accord-ing to a report by AT Kearney. Based on analysis of the energy sector in this region, the fi rm believes the GCC to be on the forefront of the smart grid revolution. “Smart meters are the technology of the future to measure real-time-electricity which enable consumers for the fi rst time to control and monitor their electricity consumption via the internet or home displays. Pilots have shown that ‘consumption aware’ and ‘informed cus-tomers’ reduce their consumption by around 10%,” said Christian von Tschirschky, principal, AT Kearney Middle East.Smart grids allow direct intervention of a utili-ty company into selected consumers’ consump-tion during peak times. At A.T. Kearney we estimate that GCC utili-

ties and governments can avoid investments of around $5-10bn into peak load capacities, up until 2020. In addition they can potentially reduce the peak load demand by 10-20 percent through effective customer behaviour changes, that evolve with smart metering implementa-tion and the usage of remote control of air conditioning systems,” added von Tschirschky.The UAE and Saudi Arabia are currently pilot-ing smart grid projects and it is expected that these countries will adopt the technology rela-tively quickly. “The investments in smart metering will pay-off, considering the cost reduction in opera-tions and the reduced investment demand for additional power plants. It is an effi cient way of managing and securing electricity supply as well as the future contributions from alterna-tive energy,” concluded von Tschirschky.



“The reference architecture for the smart energy ecosystem will provide a roadmap

for utilities to solve their integration issues. ”

It is hoped through smart grid technology some of the pressure currently on power plants in the Middle East and globally can be lifted.

Larry Cochrane, industry technology strategist, Microsoft’s power and utilities industry.

host of new industry players will all shape the future. The outlook can be a daunting challenge for anyone in the power and utilities comput-ing arena.

To succeed, utilities will need a holistic view of how the smart grid fi ts into a smart energy eco-system, as well as a strong founda-tion for migrating to the new infra-structure and services necessary to interact with, monitor, control and report on the assets of this new power system. This is especially true as utilities and the energy value chain reconfi gure their busi-ness processes to establish new business models and capture new opportunities as they arise.

ARCHITECTING A SMART ENERGY ECOSYSTEMA technology architecture is needed to support the transition of the power and utilities business to the new smart energy ecosystem. The technology architecture of the smart energy ecosystem, however, won’t be confi ned to the need to revise business practices for work-force, consumer and regulatory changes. It will also need to be an enabler of new technologies, some we know about, and some that are yet to come.

For example, a new generation of fi eld and home devices that have the ability to make local decisions using two-way communication capabilities will allow customers to better monitor, control and sched-ule energy consumption, as well as respond to demand response events and pricing signals. Utili-ties or independent service pro-viders could use these devices to extend their operational capabil-ities by facilitating registration of the devices in energy programmes that permit the power provider to adjust schedules to provide more effi cient and balanced operation of distribution networks.

The smart energy ecosystem also will require new computing

paradigm approaches. Real-time energy management systems, whether at the transmission or dis-tribution levels, will continue to have rigorous performance and reliability constraints.

A smart energy reference archi-tecture recognises that close cou-pling of all the new participants to the operation of the real-time sys-tems will prove to be fragile and unreliable over the long term.

The scale of connected smart energy systems will grow to new levels with the addition of the active participation of loads (end-use cus-tomers) and a multitude of tiny new devices. Systems will need to be designed to be fl exible and adaptive to autonomous behavior. The true measure of success will be building a working system out of autonomous independent unre-liable devices and participants.

The smart energy reference architecture as a result must enable interoperability in order for the ecosystem to develop in a cost effective manner. New solu-tions must work with previous util-ity technology systems in order to



protect those investments. Prag-matic integration approaches will need to be considered and the ref-erence architecture should be fl ex-ible to allow deploying new compo-nents without custom integration. Otherwise, the vision for the eco-system will not be pragmatic and will go unfulfi lled.

THE INTEGRATED UTILITY OF THE FUTURE

As the worldwide utility indus-try rushes forward with new smart grid projects funded by national stimulus programmes, they will need sound, tested technologies and clear architectural strategies that help them to succeed as stew-ards of taxpayer money.

A reference architecture for the utilities industry’s smart energy ecosystem, consequently, is needed to help create a world where thousands of smart devices can seamlessly and securely plug into the grid thanks to common standards and interoperability

frameworks, just as the plug and play model allows thousands of devices to seamlessly plug into PCs today.

This reference architecture can serve as the basis for the devel-opment of the “integrated utility of the future” -- enabling utilities to enjoy signifi cant benefi ts from ever greater collaboration, espe-cially as the smart energy eco-system, including the smart grid, evolves and requires the integra-tion of everyday business pro-cesses and regulatory compliance.

By having the reference archi-tecture for the smart energy eco-system available to them, enter-prise customers will have the solu-tions they need to make the smart grid a reality. The reference archi-tecture for the smart energy eco-system helps utilities by provid-ing customers a method of testing the alignment of information tech-nology with their business pro-cesses as they evaluate how those IT solutions fi t the requirements of

“The reference architecture will improve customer service and reduce the impact of

energy usage on the environment”

the smart energy ecosystem and create an integrated utility.

The reference architecture also will aid independent software vendors (ISVs) in their efforts to create new solutions that serve the needs of the smart grid/smart energy ecosystem, and it can serve as a basis for the IT industry to dis-cuss in depth and develop interop-erability standards.

And, not least, the reference architecture will improve cus-tomer service and reduce the impact of energy usage on the envi-ronment. It not only will enable utility customers to take advantage of the greater availability of “green energy” from sustainable sources such as wind and solar, but also will encourage them to substantially cut their energy usage, and costs, through new tools, including the direct feedback from smart meter-ing systems and advanced energy usage analytics, as well as indirect

feedback from improved billing processes.

In short, the reference archi-tecture for the smart energy eco-system will in the future provide a roadmap for utilities to solve their integration issues.

It will help to show how applying standards for solving integration issues across the enterprise can enable and accelerate the smart energy ecosystem.

For example, by unlocking the data that currently exists in dis-parate systems or silos across the whole utility value chain.

It also will empower users to drive improvements in real time, as well as to accelerate continuous improvement over time, especially as technologies and approaches to enabling the smart energy ecosys-tem advance and evolve over time.

In essence, the reference archi-tecture helps puts the smart in our future’s energy ecosystem.

GLOBAL SMART GRID FIGURESUS€1 trillion - estimated spend on Europe’s electricity net-work by 2030€6.2 billion – amount spent in France on smart grid initiatives, 2009-2016$169 billion – approximate fi gure China will spend on utilities as part of stimulus planUS$5-10bn – amount Middle East governments can save through smart grids according to reports

SOLAR POWER


SolarSolar power in the Middle East is not yet

widespread. Utilities Middle East asks why?

revolution

SOLAR POWER


Solar power in the Middle East shouldn’t really be rocket science, there is

an abundance of sun, an energy defi cit and now a drive towards environmentally friendly power sources. So why is solar power not implemented on a wider scale?

“It’s a good news bad news thing in the entire region. The good news is that there is an extremely good solar resource. Solar power system installed here will pro-duce about twice as much electric-

ity per year compared to a cloudy region such as Germany or a coun-try like that. So it is a very substan-tial solar resource from which to work,” explains Sander Trestain, vice president, technical at Envi-ronmena.

He adds that governments in the region are now moving towards placing very strong alternative energy policies, which will encour-age the use of renewable energy in this region further, stating the government of Abu Dhabi can be

seen at the forefront of this drive. However there are also challenges to implementing power in this region.

“The bad news is that it is very early, so there are no formal feed-in tariff programmes in Middle East-ern countries, and that is the fun-damental key policy required to drive solar, as you see in Germany and Japan and California,” states Trestain.

It is a view echoed by many in the solar power industry. “Every

SOLAR POWER


region in every country, it is a reg-ulatory market because you have a feed-in tariff. We need it here and then the system will work without any subsidiaries,” comments Fred-eric Conchy, president, Exosun.

Exosun is a fi rm which designs photovoltaic plants, and is trying to break into the Middle East market. “In the Middle East we have just started and have had very good contacts with big companies here. We had a booth at WFES for the fi rst time this year and I think we will be back here next year. So we are just starting in this region but there is a big possibility of some good business,” Conchy says.

There have been few large scale solar projects in the Middle East and this is having an impact on the industry, according to Trestain. “There is very, very little installed capacity here. There are a hand-ful of projects which we have done, a couple of smaller to midsize systems, there are a couple of sys-tems in Saudi Arabia but you can count them on your fi n-gers, how many solar power sys-tems there are in the Middle East region,” he reveals.

“So there is still a lot of education particularly about technology risks and people

don’t understand the reliability of solar and how it is a really very mature technology now and a real power solution. So those are the challenges, we are so early in the process,” he adds.

The Middle East region poses a number of challenges to solar technology, most notable, and publicised, of which is how dust and sand can affect the photovol-taic panels used in collecting solar power. Conchy believes know-ing the region and its climate is one of the most important fac-tors for a company breaking into the Middle East market. “When designing plants, you need a very good solution and to know the amount of kw/h you can produce in each different region. We know that regarding sand and dust there are specifi c problems you can have here. We need a specifi c product

for this region, taking

into account the sand and all the other factors. Sand is the main issue here though.”

Trestain, on the other hand, believes that the problem of dust and sand on photovoltaic panels has been over-hyped. “For pho-tovoltaic technology dust does not seem to be an issue at all, we have been operating a 10MW solar power plant for about half a year now so we have got a very good feel for the performance and output of it, and essentially the dust is not an issue.”

“That doesn’t mean the panels don’t need to be cleaned, but it is a remarkably low tech solution – we use a big broom to sweep them off now and then, that’s it! The frequency of cleaning ranges fairly dramatically throughout the year because there are very dusty times, when it is windy in the spring and fall, and then in the summer here it’s actually not very dusty at all,” he continues.

He also reveals that follow-ing these cleaning techniques has meant results have been con-sistent with what was projected prior to the commissioning of

the system. The solar system employed by the company

has been watched with much anticipation, and results don’t appear to have disappointed.

“The key number which is probably of interest to every-one is the annual power output for 10MW, which is

17,500MW hours per year. That was our projection before we built it and that is what the power output is now. Any solar expert can take that number and do some very simple linear math and see what any size solar power system can put out. And it’s quite impres-sive, literally you would see half of that energy coming out in a more northern climate,” Trestain says.

As with any renewable energy technology in the Middle East, the place to be is Masdar City, and Masdar is very much a watchword among the solar power indus-try. “We know that Masdar is big here and we have already looked at Masdar City for business. We know that aside from Masdar there are other companies here and we know that people want to use the technology and we think we can work with them,” says Conchy.

For Environmena, Masdar recently became much more than a watchword. “We closed our second round of fi nancing recently, it was a $15m round, and the largest shareholder now being Masdar. Good Energy, which is one of the leading and largest cleantech funds in the world, based out of the UK and Zouk, another based out of the UK. There is a big consortium of fairly high infl uence investors, including a government entity,” states Trestain.

He adds that fi rst on the agenda for the company will be expansion, using the cash raised from the new investment. “Our aim is to spread our wings a little more in the region and establish a larger pres-

“There are no formal feed-in tariff pro-grammes in Middle Eastern countries, and that is the fundamental key policy required

to drive solar”Sander Trestain, vice president, technical at Environmena

y g“There is very, very little installed capacity here. There are a hand-ful of projects which wehave done, a couple of smaller to midsizesystems, there area couple of sys-tems in SaudiArabia but youcan count them on your fi n-gers, how many solar power sys-tems there arein the Middle East region,” he reveals.

“So there is still a lot of education particularly about technology risks and people

g gare specifi c problems you can have here. We need a specifi c product

for this region, taking

solar power a year now sgood feel foroutput of it,dust is not an

“That doesdon’t need toa remarkabl– we use a them off nowThe frequenfairly dramthe year becdusty times,the spring ansummer heredusty at all,” h

He also ring these has meant resistent with prior to the

the systememplo

has mureh


Sander Trestain, vice

president, technical,

Environmena.

SOLAR POWER


ence in the immediate Middle East countries as well as further away. So that is item one in the next few months. Item two is that we are going to be permitted to pursue some larger scale deals with these new relationships with our new investors.”

The relationship with govern-ment-owned Masdar will open a number of doors for Environmena, a large amount of business in the energy sector is government to government, and the fi rm will now have access to these deals. The new investment will also give Envi-ronmena access to a host of new technology, which is being devel-oped by its various investors. This kind of government led invest-ment seems to tip the scales fi rmly in favour of companies which they back, leaving it tougher for break through fi rms to make an impact on the market.

The long term aims of Exosun are slightly more modest, yet without g o v e r n m e n t backing, the fi rm faces a tougher challenge. “For the year, we hope to fi nd a real partner

who wants to develop long term business in the region and who wants to believe in our capabilities to help them and work with them.

Alone we are nothing. We have already started look-

ing for partnerships in the Middle East and in Abu Dhabi,” states Conchy.

One of the major drawbacks to solar power is that it

cannot be utilised on its own. As there

is no supply during the night, there must

always be a sec-

ondary source of power. How-ever, those inside the industry do not believe this should be a major problem.

“Solar by its nature is never going to be a 100% power solution and you can say that about any type of power. We will always have a port-folio of different types of power, what percentage makes sense varies from region to region,” explains Trestain.

“Every day you have this curve of power production. That curve of power production almost per-fectly matches the curve of energy demand from any given city or building or community. So solar power systems produces power when its needed, during the middle of the day when businesses

are running and air condition-ers are turned on to the max,” he adds.

Solar power has the added bonus that it is producing

power around midday, when energy demand is typically peak-ing, meaning it is there when it is most needed.

Governments in the Middle East are investing in solar power, there is no denying that fact.

But what will really drive solar power technology forward in this region, is the introduction of feed-in tarrif. The potential is there in the region, and right now a rela-tively minor sticking point is stop-ping that potential being rea-lised. Despite this, the companies involved are keeping the faith in the power of the sun.

“My hope is to reduce the price of solar kw/h price and make it competitive with other technolo-gies and I think the coming years we are going to see that happen, and we will have a solar revolu-tion. It is coming. I believe more in the future of solar than any other power,” concludes Conchy.

through fi rms to make an impact on themarket.

The long termaims of Exosunare slightly more modest,yet without g o v e r n m e n t backing, the fi rm faces a tougher challenge. “For the year, we hope to fi nd a real partner

Alone we are nothing. We have already started look-

ing for partnerships in the Middle East and in Abu Dhabi,” states Conchy.

One of the major drawbacks to solar power is that it

cannot be utilised on its own. As there

is no supply during the night, there must

always be a sec-

toyopofowhvaex

“ofoffedebupowhm

“Alone we are nothing. We have already started looking for partnerships in the Middle East and in Abu Dhabi. ”

Frederic Conchy, president, Exosun


WIDE SCALE SOLARDesertec is an initiative which was launched in July last year. The proposal involves a number of concentrating solar power systems, PV systems and wind parks being located in the Sa-hara Desert.

The electricity produced would then be transmitted to European and African countries through a super grid of high voltage direct current cables. Some industry members believe it has the potential to revolu-tionise the energy market.

Frederic Conchy, president,

Exosun.

KUWAIT FOCUS


“Honeywell was able to provide a complete site survey and reveiwed the control logic of

the plant”Byun Soon Sub, engineer, Doosan.

thanks to its parent company offers clients a single source for design, manufacturing of equipment, plant construction and commissioning and operation of water and waste-water treatment facilities.

The Kuwait-based plant had pre-viously used the existing control system but was looking for a way to upgrade this out-dated technology and fi nd something that was more price competitive,and included the post-support service that the plants needed.

Working with Doosan Hydro Technology, the project sought a next-generation process con-trol system that would meet the challenges the company faced at


K uwait is a complex country, and its power and water issues appear to live up to

that billing. According to local media reports, this summer the country will face power shortages which will cost the country million of dollars, due to the failure of the country’s emergency plan, which was made back in 2007.

The Ministry of Electricity and Water is reportedly planning to purchase 100 mobile diesel-oper-ated generators according to Al-Seyassah daily.

These problems do not come from a lack of resources. Kuwait is one of the world’s top export-ers of oil, with over 2.6 million bar-rels per day exported in 2007. The economy of the country is heavily dependent on oil export revenues, which account for roughly 90% of total export earnings. Around 10% of its oil revenues are channeled into the Future Generations Fund for the day when the country’s oil runs out.

Power and water projects are underway in Kuwait, in an attempt to address the growing needs of the country. One such example is the Shuaiba South Rehabilita-tion Plant, in which Honeywell was involved.

The plant is one of the largest planned power and water plants under contruction in the world

Kuwait is oil rich but struggling for power and water. Projects such as those Honeywell has been involved in are attempting to plug the gaps

today. The plant turned to Doosan Hydro Technology to help at plant start up and commission-ing. Having worked with Honey-well before, Doosan investigated the equipment and challenges that Shuaiba would have to face at plant start up. The largest issue was the existing control system in use at the existing power plant but any changes had to be approved PQ by the Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW).

The Shuaiba South Rehabilita-tion project in Kuwait is one of the largest planned power and water plants in the world today, capable of producing 36 Million Imperial Gallons per Day (MIGD) – enough to meet the daily water needs of 500,000 people. The project is upgrading an obsolete MSF-type desalination plant to extend equip-ment life by 10 additional years and expand plant capacity by 20%. This is the largest rehabilitation order for the entire Middle East region.

Shuaiba turned to Doosan Hydro Technology to help commis-

Addressing the balance

sion the plant and provide the right mix of technology to extend the life the plant. Doosan Hydro Technol-ogy is the US-based subsidiary of Doosan Heavy Industries & Con-struction, which works in infra-structure services for the public and private sectcors. The company provides total water solutions and

Kuwait is an oil rich country but faces problems with its power and water supply.

KUWAIT FOCUS


plant start up and commission-ing. Another variable was that any technology changes to the exist-ing plants must fi rst be approved by the Kuwait Ministry of Electric-ity and Water.

Doosan worked with Honeywell to put together a seamless migra-tion solution and transitioned Shuaiba to Honeywell and its Expe-rion PKS which provided the right combination of technology, experi-ence and people’s skill sets to meet the company’s business needs.

“Honeywell was able to provide a complete site survey and reviewed the control logic at the plant and provided recommendations on people, process and technology,” says Byun Soon Sub, Engineer, Doosan.

The project was a Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) process project which is one of the most commonly

used desalination technologies along with Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Multi-Effect Desalination (MED). “With Honeywell’s pro-fessional and assertive support, price competitiveness and system-atic process post-commissioning, we were certain we had found the right partner for the job,” contin-ues Soon Sub.

Honeywell’s Experion unifi es assets, processes, and people to improve business agility. This proven, open, yet completely secure technology is built to scale and helps manage everything from optimised yield to reduced mainte-nance costs by up to 30 %.

Experion PKS combines the strengths of the Experion plat-form, Honeywell’s applications and services to help customers make better decisions and improve busi-ness performance.

QUICK KUWAIT FACTS

•Oil Production (2008): 2.7 million barrels per day, of which 2.57 million was crude•Electricity Installed Capacity (2006): 10.855 gigawatts•Electricity Consumption (2006): 39.543 billion kilowatt hours •Proven Oil Reserves (January 1, 2009E): 104 billion barrels (in-cludes half of Neutral Zone)•Total Energy Consumption (2006): 1.136 quadrillion Btus*, of which Oil (59%), Natural Gas (41%), Coal (0%), Nuclear (0%), Hydroelectricity (0%), Other Renewables (0%)

“One of the reasons we selected Honeywell was the ease of migra-tion from Shuaiba’s existing out-dated controller system in place.

We needed the fl exibility to inte-grate at our own pace and help our customer,” says Soon Sub.

“The end result was a cus-tomer that was very satisfi ed with their return on investment,” he explains.

The Experion product demon-strated the fl exibility and reliabil-ity of a proven control system that helped satisfy Shuaiba’s return on investment based on the opportu-nity cost.

“Honeywell’s professionalism and local support and services and positive attitude and support pro-vided the solution we needed,” con-cludes Soon Sub.

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SITE VISIT


Septech presents its Underground Trickling Bio-Filter System at Al Khawaneej Palace in the UAE

The royal treatment

In the latest installation of this system, at Al Khawaneej Palace, the owners are enjoying a number of benefi ts. When compared to other systems which treat the same volumes of wastewater, the system consumes 50% less power than an extended aeration treat-ment process, an MBR plant or a traditional sequencing batch reac-tor processing plant.

“This whole system operates off a 1.5kw pump, so you don’t even need power, you can just put in a small solar panel and run off solar,” states David Heffernan, CEO of Septech.

The system itself is extremely simple, as Heffernan explains. ”Everything comes in by gravity,

I f you own a palace, chances are your problems are few and far between. However, for even the most regal of

homeowners, the issue of effective sewage recycling can be a trou-bling one. Palaces in the Middle East are usually huge buildings which are for the majority of the time unoccupied, and can be found in remote locations.

Palaces and huge residences in the Middle East are not in a posi-tion where they can connect to a main sewer network, and to do so would be too expensive, given the rarity of their use. Septech took on the problem with its Under-ground Trickling Bio-Filter System concept.

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homeowners, the sewage recyclingbling one. PalaceEast are usually which are for thetime unoccupied, in remote location

Palaces and hugthe Middle East ation where they cmain sewer netwowould be too experarity of their uson the problemground TrickSystem concep

The fi ltration system can be run off solar power, due to it not needing a great deal of power.

David Heffernan, CEO, Septech.

SITE VISIT


process, you don’t have to worry about fl uctuation, if you had a party for 1000 people it would still work,” Heffernan adds.

A sudden spike in the amount of people using a sewage fi ltration system can present challenges to most products. A conventional system which is designed for everyday traffi c will struggle to operate when the usage becomes signifi cantly higher. These sudden increases can result in untreated effl uent being discharged from the plant. In the underground trickling bio-fi lter system, the acti-vated sludge is recycled within its process, keeping the system in a

and there is no need for pumps - pump stations cost more than this system. In a biological process, there is 300mg of bod biochemi-cal oxygen demand, and to get a reduction of that you have anaer-obic digestion. So if you are going to do this with this type of system, you will have a 20% reduction of your BOD.”

The system can be installed incredibly quickly as there is no need for above ground site work for the erection of the tanks and treatment processes. Installa-tion can be completed in as little amount of time as two weeks.

“We did CityCentre in Ajman and we did that job in 15 days. Our nearest competitor was about eight months to a year. We offer a turnkey solution, we come here, we excavate, these are pre engi-neered tanks, they are our own designs and one piece, so we cast them upside down, jack them up in moulds and spin them round so they are one piece. There is no infi ltration of water either in or out,” reveals Heffernan.

The plant is also a hidden facil-ity, meaning it can be installed in areas which need to remain aes-thetically pleasing – a useful attri-

“There is no pre-treatment, we need the sewage in there and we are recycling it back

through the system ”David Heffernan, CEO, Septech.

The system requires little or no maintenance.

The majority of the equipment can be located underground.

The systems are said to be ideal for palaces in remote locations in the Middle East.

bute in a palace. Maintenance for the system is minimal, as Heffer-nan describes.

“There is no mechanical pro-cess, we have two pumps; a duty and stand by and they are cyclic changeovers so you don’t have motors that burn out. So if some-thing goes wrong with the system, you can fi x it and the system won’t stop,” comments Heffernan.

“You have the fi xed fi lm, the biomass grows on the fi xed fi lm and that is what absorbs the pol-lutants out of the wastewater. It grows on it so the older the system gets, the better the system works. With fi xed fi lm it is a much better

THE UTB SYSTEM: ADVANTAGES• Consumes less power• Can be run off solar power• No above site works required• Can cope with changes in population• Recycles activated sludge within its own process• Final product ideal for irrigation and watering process

SITE VISIT


The system produces no noise and possibly more crucially, no smell.

ready state for optimal processing during both peaks and troughs in usage.

“This house has no fl ow, if it was any other system it would fail. Even if there is zero fl ow, this will always work. Nearly every ruler in the Western regions and Abu Dhabi have these installed in their palaces. Studies have been done on these and what they have rea-lised is they have minimum fuss, you don’t need any specialised engineering people and we can train people to use it, if they don’t want our people to do it,” explains Heffernan.

Heffernan also believes there is little to be gained from hooking up a building as remote as the Al Kha-waneej Palace up to a central treat-ment plant.

“It costs so much less for this than it does to put in a network. There is no point in pumping all the water to a central treatment plant just to redistribute it back to the gardens and common areas. So in any area where it is not next to a main network, you would be mad not to put in a small decentr-alised system. And we have clients in the UAE who have put them in for 48 villas and things like that and they just gravity feed to it. So you get rid of the mechanical func-tions and eliminate the wear and tear issues,” he affi rms.

The fi nal product which is obtained from the system is ideal for watering and irrigation pur-poses. The process of the system includes post-treatment chlorina-tion for the safe storage and re-use of the clear effl uent in greening projects.

“In the UAE, the water stan-dards are probably one of the more stringent in the world, which a lot of people don’t seem to rea-lise. In Europe its 20:30 BOD in suspended solids, here it’s below 10:10. For irrigating purposes, which this is for, this is more than suffi cient, it’s actually too much,” opines Heffernan.

The system seems to have few fl aws, and in a building such as a remotely located palace, it is a perfect match. Although it is not suitable for all uses, and Septech doesn’t claim it is, it seems this plant is an extremely well suited horse, for what must be a highly profi table course.

“Why would anyone look at using a more expensive solution if you had the available area? There is no pre-treatment, we need the sewage in there and we are recy-cling it back through the system.

“Having no noise, below ground, you have no issues and we are seeing a growing trend, every developer wants to put this in, con-cludes Heffernan.

INTERVIEW


Sylvain Hijazi, Alstom country president, Gulf Region, talks to UtilitiesMiddle East about the company’s future plans, new technologies in the sector and the renewable energy question

Power player

Roughly what percentage of Alstom’s business is in the Middle East currently?For the Alstom Group as a whole, for the year ended 31 March 2009, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 25% of received orders, and 13% of sales were des-tined for that region.

And for the fi rst nine months of 2009/10, sales to the Middle East and Africa amounted to some 19% of our global sales.

How do you see this changing in the future?The Middle East will continue to be an important market for Alstom. Alstom’s product offer-ing is well adapted to the needs of the region as demonstrated with the Fujairah 2000MW power and desalination plant using the GT26 gas turbines, the Sohar Aluminium power plant using our GT13E2 gas turbines, which are well suited to the needs of the aluminium indus-try and the 5.6GW Shoaiba oil fi red steam plant in Saudi Arabia built using our plant integrator solution.

How is Alstom adapting to the changing face of the sector?I believe we must fi nd ways to kick-start new growth momentum that can factor in the pressures on the planet as a whole. The fact is Alstom is actively working in the various types of infrastructure that are at the very centre of the debate on economic growth. This means we must work out new ground

Sylvain Hijazi, Alstom country president, Gulf region. Sylvain Hijazi, Alstom country president, Gulf region.

rules. We are working on this and it’s not something that is going to happen overnight.

What lessons do you believe have been learnt during the economic crisis? How did it af fect your sector?Alstom as a whole has seen that our customers are reluctant to put in major orders. We have a stream of small- and medium-sized orders, but with respect to large projects, customers are waiting to see if the economy is really getting back on its feet.

How big a part do you believe renewable energies have to play in the future?Technology mix has a sig-nifi cant role to play in the mitigation of CO2 emis-sions from power gener-ation. No single form of power generation will address both the secure supply of reliable and affordable energy, and the rapid transforma-tion to a low carbon system of energy supply. Further-more, interna-tional fi gures show that mix evolution can strongly con-tribute to reduc-ing emissions by 2030, even with a bigger energy production.

March 2010 ● Utilities Middle East 31

INTERVIEW


simulation methods of the lifetime operation of the plant. Fuel fl exibil-ity and plant integration are other important issues.

For coal, the effi ciency of a coal-fi red plant is driven by the steam conditions: the highest the tem-perature and the pressure, the better conditions. With machines operating at 620°C, we’ve the most competitive steam turbine in the market place. Further steps include design of larger plants and materials development (advanced steels, nickel-based alloys) to raise temperature up to 700-750°C and bring effi ciency up to 50%.

Hydro turbines and generators are already very effi cient. There is a growing demand for pump stor-age capacity for peak power gen-

Alstom has no single preferred technology: each fuel category has its pros and cons.

With the most comprehensive and balanced portfolio of gener-ation equipment in the market, including the removal of tradi-tional pollutants, we offer the best technology mix so that each plant operator can choose a clean and balanced portfolio that takes into account environmental reg-ulations. This is for all plants (whether new or existing), all energy sources, and all emissions.

What are your hopes for the next 18 months?My hopes for the next 18 months are that Alstom is able to increase its market share on all of its axis

– new power generation projects, fume treatment for the industrial market, in particular aluminium smelters and in the service market for both the power and industrial markets.

What new technology is the fi rm employing?Let’s take the four main fuels - nat-ural gas, coal, water and nuclear -

used for power generation. For gas, we’ve moved to an incremen-tal improvement strategy, making small changes to the existing GT26/GT13 gas turbines. New technologies, such as single crys-tal blading alloys, improve the tur-bine’s lifetime and reduce the cost, while the fl ow coming through the compressor has been increased. To reduce outages, we optimise

Alstom installed its product platform ALSPA to control and manage power plant as-sets at a Fujairah based pow-er and desalination plant.

ALSPA architectures have been successfully rolled out on several large sites in the Middle East. One of the larg-est installations, and most advanced projects, is located in Fujairah for the new de-salinisation plant. The con-trol system ensures optimal coordination of the tradi-tional power plant island consisting of a combined heat and power cycle feed-ing a desalinisation unit.

The ALSPA system controls all power plant process units and offers a single window harmonised environment across all plant process items. The system controls both the power plant and the desalination plant, allow-ing consistent operation and control through the same

“New technologies, such as single crystal blading alloys, improve the turbine’s lifetime

and reduce the cost”Sylvain Hijazi, country president, Gulf region, Alstom.

ALSPA control philosophy.The project demonstrates

the scalability of the archi-tecture to power and other processes, positioning the architecture as a leading com-ponent of the deployments of future eco cities combining all related grids – electricity, heat, water and CO2 – into a consis-tent control and optimisation architecture.

The contract was signed with the project develop-ment consortium comprising International Power Plc and Marubeni Corp - who are implementing the project in partnership with the govern-ment-owned major utility Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) who initi-ated the project. A consortium comprising Alstom and Sidem, with Alstom supplying the power plant and Sidem the desalination plant.

Under the contract, Alstom is providing all engineering,

procurement and construc-tion services for the turn-key supply of the 2000 MW combined-cycle power plant based on the GT26 gas tur-bine, including the in-house supply of all main equipment, which comprises fi ve GT26 gas turbines, fi ve heat recovery steam generators (HRSG),

three steam turbines, eight turbogenerators and associ-ated control systems. Sidem is supplying the 130 million imperial gallons per day hybrid desalination plant, which is based on and built with multi-effect distillation as well as reverse osmosis technologies.

Fujairah 2, where Alstom is providing EPC services.

CASE STUDY: FUJAIRAH 2

INTERVIEW


eration and grid balancing ser-vices as an increasing proportion of renewable energies are con-nected to the grids. In nuclear, we are extending the power range to produce 1000MW and 1750MW

fuels, as well as a comprehensive product platform – named ALSPA – to control and manage power plant assets individually as well as a portfolio of power plants. Alstom has been present in these digital

turbines for both 50 and 60 Hz.At the heart of our plant integra-

tor and smart energy capabilities is our energy management busi-ness, which has strong expertise in control applications across all

technologies from the 1990s, and in 2009 we launched the latest ver-sion of the ALSPA platform, the ALSPA Series 6 in Europe, Asia and US. First commercial suc-cesses have been really quick with over 15 power plants being equipped with this new platform.

Can the environmental impact be reduced?

The biggest technological chal-lenge right now is in CO2 cap-ture. The target set in Europe for CO2 reduction is 50% to 60% by 2050. Alstom’s strategy for clean power is based around providing CO2 mitigation technologies for both new and, more importantly, existing plants. Consequently, we are working on fi ve technologies, based on the three principles to capture CO2 (post-combustion, oxyfi ring, pre-combustion).

The Fujairah 2 power plant in the UAE.

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

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PROJECTS

www.utilities-me.com March2010 ● Utilities Middle East 35

UTILITIES PROJECT TRACKERInformation is supplied by Ventures Middle East. Tel: +971 2 622 2455. URL: www.ventures-uk.com

9023/9001 Underground Cables

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Al Fanar Contracting 46 project under

constructionPower Transmission

380kV Transmission Line - North of Riyadh

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

KEC International / Al Sharif Group for Contracting & Development Trading

64 project under construction

Power Transmission

Desalination Plant & Drinking Water Infrastructure Emaar Economic City,Saudi Huta-Hegerfeld & Huta-

Marine Limited Company 53 project under construction

DesalinationPlant

Desalination Plant in Jeddah - Phase 3

Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)

Kuljian EngineeringCorporation

Doosan Heavy Industries & Const. Company / Saudi Berkefeld Filter (Witco)

245 project under construction

DesalinationPlant

115kV Underground Cables in Madina 2nd Industrial City

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Siemens 35 project under

constructionPower Trans-mission

132/13.8 kV 8122-Substation in Al Morooj

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Al-Osais Group 50 project under

construction Substation

10J Substation & 101 Satel-lite Substation in Yanbu

Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) Siemens 150 project under


Princess Noura Bin Abdulrah-man University - High Volt-age Substation

Ministry of Higher Education / Ministry of Finance

ABB Contracting Co. / Al Fanar Contracting 167 project under


Yanbu IWPP

The Power & Water Utilities Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafi q)/Saline Water Con-version Corporation (SWCC)

MohammedA.Turki Mott MacDonald

Not Appointed 4000 project under design

Power and DesalinationPlant

Qsai Dam at Jizan Ministry of Water and Electricity,Saudi Arabia

Zuhair Fayez & Partners

Bin Jarallah Establishment for Trading & General Con-tracting (Bin Jarallah Group)

40 project under construction Dam

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

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Siemens, Saudi 20 project under


Power Plant Expansion - Duba


Najm Al Jazirah for Trading Contracting & Agriculture Co. 120 project under

construction Power Plant

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) - Power Grid Package Emaar Middle East Properties Siemens 400 project under


Power and Water Plant in Ras Al Zour

Saudi Arabian Mining Com-pany (Maaden) / Rio Tinto Alcan

Not Appointed 2500 project under design

Power & DesalinationPlant

New Dam in Abha Ministry of Water and Electricity

Zuhair Fayez & Partners

Bin Jarallah Establishment for Trading & General Con-tracting (Bin Jarallah Group)

16 project under construction Dam

Substations 9024 and 8183/8184


ABB Contracting Co., Saudi Arabia 120 project under


Interim Power Plant at YanbuThe Power & Water Utilities Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafi q)

300 EPC Bid Power Plant

Rabigh IPP - 380-KV Substa-tion

Saudi Electricity Company (SEC); ACWA Power Interna-tional; Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco);

ABB Contracting Co., Saudi Arabia 48 project under


MIDDLE EASTProject Title Client Consultant Main Contractor Value /

Value Range (US$. Mn)

Project Status Project Type

SAUDI

PROJECTS


Uqair Power Plant Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Not Appointed 1500 project in

concept stage Power Plant

380 Substation at Al Dhahi-yah - Stage2


Al Toukhi Company for Industry & Trading 70 project under


PP11 Power Plant in Riyadh Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) Not Appointed 2133 EPC Bid Power Plant

Karan Gas Field Exploration - Utilities and Co-generation Package

Saudi Aramco Foster Wheeler, Saudi Arabia Petrofac, Saudi 500 project under

constructionCo-generationPlant

Qurayyah - 2 Simple Cycle Power Plant


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

1900 project under construction Power Plant

UAE

Hassyan Complex - Station P - Phase 1 (P1)

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)

Mott MacDon-ald, Dubai Not Appointed 3000 EPC Bid


Hassyan Sea-Water Cooling System

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Not Appointed 1800 EPC Bid Water

Distribution

Fujairah 2 (F2) IWPP ADWEA/ Marubeni Corpora-tion/ International Power Fichtner Alstom Power / Sidem 3,000 project under

construction


Water Treatment Plant - Das Island

Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco) Metito Abu Dhabi LLC 21 project under

constructionWater Treatment

Desalination Plant near Hamriyah Free Zone

Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA)

Aqua Engineering, Techton Engineering & Construction 122 project under

constructionDesalinationPlant

General Utility Plant Expan-sion at Ruwais

Abu Dhabi Oil Refi nery Com-pany (Takreer) Not Appointed 500 EPC Bid Power Plant

Upgrade of Irrigation Net-works and Pumping Stations

Department of Municipalities & Agriculture-Abu Dhabi Not Appointed 10 EPC Bid Pumping

Station

Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Water and Elec-tricity Authority / Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation

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

41000 project under construction Power Plant

Installation of 11kV Cables in Dubai

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Econ Contracting LLC 25 project under


Two Desalination Plants in Ajman

Federal Electricity & Water Authority (FEWA)

Tecton Engineering & Con-struction; Aqua Engineering; 200 project under


KUWAIT

11kV Overhead Transmission Line for Subiya Road

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait

National Contracting Com-pany (NCC), Kuwait 11 project under


New Substations in Kuwait Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait Not Appointed 30 EPC Bid Substation

Water Storage Tanks in West Funaitees

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait Not Appointed 500 EPC Bid Water

Distribution

Shuwaikh Desalination Plant Ministry of Energy (Electricity & Water)

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Kuwait 320 project under


Al Zour Desalination Plant - Phase 2

Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW), Kuwait

Parsons Brinckerhoff International, Kuwait

Not Appointed 120 EPC Bid DesalinationPlant

QATAR

Solar Power PlantQatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahra-maa)

Not Appointed 1000 Feasibility Study Power Plant

TENDERS


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

SINGLE CORE COPPER CABLE 0.6/1-KVIssuer: Electricity and Water AuthorityTender no: 001/2010/5310Title: Single Core Copper Cable 0.6/1-kVDescription: The scope of work includes purchasing single core copper cable 0.6/1-kV, 70sqmm (Qty 8000m) & PVC insulated copper wire 70sqmm (Qty 200m), 35sqmm 500m.Bond: ApplicableTender fee: 15.00 BHDCloses: Feb 10, 2010Contact: Purchasing & Supply Directorate

CONSTRUCTION OF NEW 2X2 M.V.A IBRA-1 SUBSTATION AT IBRAIssuer: Mazoon Electricity Company SAOCTender no: 426/2009Title: Construction of New 2x2 M.V.A Ibra-1 Substation at IbraDescription: The scope of work includes construction of new 2x2 M.V.A Ibra-1 Substation at Ibra.Bond: N/ATender fee: 400.00 OMR Closes: Feb 15, 2010Contact: www.tenderboard.gov.om

UPGRADING OF BOUSHER GRID STATIONIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 431/2009Title: Upgrading of Bousher Grid StationDescription: The scope of work includes upgrading of Bousher Grid Station in Oman.Bond: N/ATender fee: 1500.00 OMR Closes: Feb 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

ADDITIONAL 125-M.V.A TRANSFORMER AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENTS IN BARKAIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 430/2009Title: Additional 125-M.V.A Transformer and Associated Equipments in BarkaDescription: The scope of work includes installation of additional 125-M.V.A transformer and associated equipments at Barka Main Grid Substation.Bond: Applicable

Tender activityVisit constructionweekonline.comfor the latest tender information

To add a tender to our listing, email details to lutfi [email protected]

Tender fee: 367.00 OMR Closes: Feb 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

ADDITIONAL 125-M.V.A TRANSFORMER AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENTS IN WADI KABIRIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 429/2009Title: Additional 125-M.V.A Transformer and Associated Equipments in Wadi KabirDescription: The scope of work includes installation of additional 125-M.V.A transformer and associated equipments at Wadi Kabir Grid Substation.Bond: N/ATender fee: 392.00 OMR Closes: Feb 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

ADDITIONAL 125-M.V.A TRANSFORMER AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENTS IN MAWALLEHIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 428/2009Title: Additional 125-M.V.A Transformer and Associated Equipments in MawallehDescription: The scope of work includes installation of additional 125-M.V.A transformer and associated equipments at Mawalleh Grid Substation.Bond: N/ATender fee: 372.00 OMR Closes: Feb 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

ADDITIONAL 125-M.V.A TRANSFORMER AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENTS IN MADINAT QABOOSIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 427/2009Title: Additional 125-M.V.A Transformer and Associated Equipments in Madinat QaboosDescription: The scope of work includes installation of additional 125-M.V.A transformer and associated equipments at Madinat Qaboos Grid Substation.Bond: N/ATender fee: 326.00 OMRCloses: Feb 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

INSPECTION & OVERHAULING OF 132-KV SF6 GAS INSULATED SWITCHGEARSIssuer: Saline Water Conversion CorporationTender no: SQ/RE/347Title: Inspection & Overhauling of 132-kV SF6 Gas Insulated SwitchgearsDescription: The scope of work includes detailed inspection & overhauling of 132-kV SF6 gas insulated switchgears, accessories & air compressor at SWCC Shuqaiq plant. Bond: N/ATender fee: 500.00 SAR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 22, 2010Contact: http://www.swcc.gov.sa

UPGRADING OF EXISTING AL-HAMRA SUBSTATION AT HAMARA IN DAKHILIYA REGIONIssuer: Mazoon Electricity Company SAOCTender no: 39/2010Title: Upgrading of Existing Al-Hamra Substation at Hamara in Dakhiliya RegionDescription: The scope of work includes upgrading of existing Al-Hamra substation at Hamara in Dakhiliya Region.Bond: N/ATender fee: 429.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

CONSTRUCTION OF PRIMARY SUBSTATION FOR POWER SUPPLY TO ADAM AIRPORT AT DAKHILYA REGIONIssuer: : Mazoon Electricity Company SAOCTender no: 38/2010Title: Construction of Primary Substation for Power Supply to Adam Airport at Dakhilya RegionDescription: The scope of work includes construction of primary substation for power supply to Adam Airport at Dakhilya Region.Bond: N/ATender fee: 373.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

TENDERS

March 2010 ● Utilities Middle East 39www.utilities-me.com

EXTENSION OF 33-KV LINE AND CONSTRUCTION OF PRIMARY SUBSTATIONIssuer: Mazoon Electricity Company SAOCTender no: : 37/2010Title: Extension of 33-kV Line and Construction of Primary SubstationDescription: The scope of work includes extension of 33-kv line and construction of primary substation for power supply to Ras Al-Hadd airport at Sharqiya region.Bond: N/ATender fee: 943.00 OMR ( Currency converter ) Closes: Mar 22, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

A/C SYSTEM REPLACEMENT FOR OFFICE OF MINISTRY OF DEFENCEIssuer: Central Tenders CommitteeTender no: 8062709Title: A/C System Replacement for Office of Ministry of DefenceDescription: The scope of work includes A/C System Replacement for Office of Minister of DefenceBond: ApplicableTender fee: 60.00 KWD ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 23, 2010Contact: Central Tenders Committee - Ministry of Defence

WATER DESALINATION PLANT IN SOHAR INDUSTRIAL PORTIssuer: Majis Industrial Services S.A.O.CTender no: 22/2010Title: Water Desalination Plant in Sohar Industrial PortDescription: The scope of work includes construction of water desalination plant in Sohar Industrial Port.Bond: N/ATender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 29, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

REVAMPING OF PROTECTION SYSTEM AT 132-KV AND 220-KV GRID STATION IN MUSCAT GOVERNORATEIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 23/2010Title: Revamping of Protection System at 132-kV and 220-kV Grid Station in Muscat GovernorateDescription: The scope of work includes revamping of protection system at 132-kv and 220-kv grid station in Muscat governorate.Bond: N/ATender fee: 448.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 29, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM TO RESORT HOTEL & OTHER CONSUMERS AT MASIRAH Issuer: Public Authority for Electricity and WaterTender no: 50/2010

WATER BUMPS REFURBISHMENT - PHASE 7The scope of work includes refurbishment of several water bumps. The Contractor’s attention is directed in particular to QCS 2007 Section 1 Part 11 and Project Specification Part 2 Section 1 Part 11 in respect of providing site facilities for the use of the Engineer. The closing date for the tender is April 6th and tender fee is 4000QAR. Contact: Contracts Dept. - Public Works Authority, Fax: 00974-4950777.

KEY CONTRACT

Title: Water Supply System to Resort Hotel & Other Consumers at MasirahDescription: The scope of work includes construction of water supply system to resort hotel & other consumers at Masirah which is located in the country of Oman.Bond: N/ATender fee: 750.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Mar 29, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

CONSTRUCTION OF DAMD WATER TREATMENT PLANT NEAR TO DAMD DAMIssuer: Ministry of Water & ElectricityTender no: 16/1431/1432Title: Construction of Damd Water Treatment Plant near to Damd DamDescription: The scope of work includes construction of Damd Water Treatment Plant near to Damd Dam in Saudi Arabia.Bond: N/ATender fee: 3000.00 SAR ( Currency converter )Closes: Apr 4, 2010Contact: http://app.mowe.gov.sa

ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION WORKS IN KHASAB AT MUSANDAM GOVERNORATEIssuer: Rural Areas Eletricity Compant S.A.O.CTender no: 53/2010Title: Electrical Distribution Works in Khasab at Musandam GovernorateDescription: The scope of work includes electrical distribution works (11k.v network extensions) to feed

power supply to Khasab at Musandam governorate, which is based in Oman.Bond: N/ATender fee: 315.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Apr 5, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

NEW 220-KV SOHAR POWER GRID STATIONIssuer: Oman Electricity Transmission CompanyTender no: 52/2010Title: New 220-kV Sohar Power Grid StationDescription: The scope of work includes the construction of a new 220-kV Sohar power grid station and installation of the required overhead lines at the station, which is based in Oman.Bond: N/ATender fee: 1500.00 OMR ( Currency converter )Closes: Apr 5, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

DESALINATION PLANT WADI MARIR IN AL SHARQIYAH REGIONIssuer: Public Authority for Electricity and WaterTender no: 49/2010Title: Desalination Plant Wadi Marir in Al Sharqiyah RegionDescription: The scope of work includes construction of the desalination plant Wadi Marir found in the Al Sharqiyah Region, which is located in Oman.Bond: N/ATender fee: 200.00 OMR (Currency converter)Closes: Apr 5, 2010Contact: http://www.tenderboard.gov.om

QUICK Q&A


Could you describe your company?Our name is Open Systems Inter-national (OSI) and we are a part-ner of Al Mostajed Technologies, a part of the Global Energy group of companies.

We provide automation solu-tions to the utilities industry includ-ing electric utilities, oil and gas, water and transportation. We basi-cally provide SCADA systems, data acquisition systems, energy man-agement systems and distribution management systems. Our busi-ness covers all types of utilities from transmission to generation to distribution.

We are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. That is where our headquarters are. We have offi ces around the world and we have several proj-ects outside of the United States. Most of our business is in North America but we have started to branch out internationally. We are very active in India, China, we have a few projects in Europe and we are now here in Dubai, look-ing to expand into the Middle East region.

The fi rm was founded in the early 1990s in an attempt to create real time automation solutions based on latest IT solutions, in the US and has grown from there.

What percentage of your business is in the Middle East?Right now I would say less than 10% but we are shooting for this to be 20-25% pretty soon. Al Mostajed and OSI in a joint venture have just signed a con-tract with FEWA to replace their SCADA energy management and

distribution management systems in the northern Emirates of the UAE so we are confi dent that this is the fi rst step towards that.

Are you looking to expand further into the Middle East region?We actually started with a partner-ship with Global Energy and Al Mostajed Technologies and we are part of the Global Energy offi ce in Jebel Ali. So that will be our start-ing point for projects in the UAE,

the GCC and other places in the Middle East. The local presence and value added by our partners Al Mostajed will help us develop and deliver competitive solutions.

What challenges are you facing in the Middle East?In the whole industry, this is a

sector that has been very conser-vative and reluctant to change. These automation systems in the past have been very complex sys-tems that are made by huge com-panies that are not really in line with standard software mentality.

We are the only vendor in this area in this market that is pro-viding standard products, in the sense that instead of building cus-tomised systems for every util-ity we actually build one stan-dard product for every utility. So

“We are the only vendor in this area, in this market that is providing standard products, in the sense that instead of building customised systems for every utility we actually build one

standard product for every utility.”

Open Systems International director Abed Halimah on how his firm is approaching the Middle East region

PEOPLE METERBreaking through

it becomes more in line with the IT industry where you can get upgrades every year, so a system never has to be replaced. So the main challenge is getting people to understand that philosophy.

What are your hopes for the next 12 months?We hope to complete the FEWA project and make it a success for us and FEWA, make it a showcase for is. And basically start gaining market share very quickly, start-ing with the United Arab Emirates and then the rest of the GCC coun-tries.

The 24/7 service provided locally from our Jebel Ali base would be an extremely important element which will be considered by the utilities in deciding future projects. We intend to have engi-neering, development, training, FAT etc. all based out of our United Arab Emirates facility based in Jebel Ali.

What do you think of the Middle East Electricity show?We are very excited, this is the fi rst time we have come to the show, that coupled with the FEWA con-tract has given us a good start.

This is our fi rst show in the Middle East and hopefully we will be back here for many more shows.

The CMC 353 meets a wide variety of chal-lenges in protection engineering – from the testing of electromechanical relays to the latest IEC 61850 IEDs.

OMICRON’s Test Universe software enables CMC test sets to provide the ultimate in automated protection testing. Now, for speedy manual tests, the new CMControlunit offers a convenient and easy to use alternative:

Over the last 20 years, innovations from OMICRON have set new standards in protec-tion testing – and, with its two new products, OMICRON continues to lead the field:

OMICRON’s latest protection test set, the CMC 353, provides the perfect combination of portability and power with its compact design, light weight (12.9 kg) and powerful current sources (3 x 32 A / 430 VA).

Europe, Middle East, Africa: Klaus, Austria +43 5523 507-0 | Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong +852 2634-0377 | Americas: Houston, Texas +1 713 830-4660

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The CMControl provides quick verification of test objects, utilizing an intuitive touch screen user interface and a control wheel.

In addition to its use as a front panel control unit, its flexibility also allows it to be used as a hand-held device or it can be mag-netically attached to a protection cubicle for convenient eye-level operation.

Even existing CMC devices can easily be upgraded.

Exciting news indeed.

CMC 353 and CMControl:

Two reasons for protection engineers to get excited!

Dubai PO box 19973 Tel +971 4 2672269 Fax +971 4 2672289 Email [email protected] Website www.eagle.ae

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Utilities Middle East - March 2010

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Transcript of Utilities Middle East - March 2010