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The UAE and Abu Dhabi are influencing the global agenda on sustainability issues in energy, water and environment

A better plAce to gAther

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FEBRUARY 2013

COVER STORY ON SITEON THE RECORDINDUSTRY NOTES

SPECIAL REPORT FEATURE

A better place to gather

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Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) meets the need for efficient collection and conveyance of waste water from existing and newly developing areas of Abu Dhabi until 2030.

The UAE and Abu Dhabi are influencing the global agenda on sustainability issues in energy, water and environment.

President of Alstom Grid and Executive Vice President of Alstom elaborates on Grid’s focus areas and future plans.

A zero emission motorcycle that you can ride to work every dayAbu Dhabi’s RSB takes up the onus

of educating residents on the wise use of water and electricity.

IRENA finds that renewable energy sector has entered into a new virtuous cycle.

Improving energy and water efficiency of buildings.

Analysis of petrochemical industry trends in the Middle East.

Big on the Grid80% of strategic sewer tunnel complete

Sustaining confidence

A powerful outlook

Wireless for watermanagement

Testing power transformers safely

INTERVIEW

FEATURE

Anita Mathews, Director,

Ryuji Nagaie, Assistant General Manager Power Division, Middle East Region, Toshiba shares his company’s Middle East agenda.

How the Island of Guernsey radio- networked its water treatment infrastructure.

Safety tips and literature references useful for performing transformer tests in the field.

NEWS SPOT LIGHTMosaic Round up In the region At large NYNAS

Weidmüller

8 10 12 17 6

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ZEROTRACERA wise strategy

Wake-up call to policy makers

Building Efficiencies

Europe’s loss, Middle East’s gain

Grégoire Poux-Guillaume,

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Editorial / 3 | Market Place / 52 | Events / 65 | Projects / 60

Informa Energy Group on how Middle East Electricity (MEE) is transforming into a major international event.

4 FEBRUARY 2013

Editor’s Note

PublisherDominic De Sousa

Associate PublisherLiam Williams • liam@cpidubai.com

Chief Operations OfficerNadeem Hood

EditorAnoop K Menon • anoop@cpi-industry.com

Commecial DirectorGina O’Hara • gina.ohara@cpidubai.comM: +971 50 341 6671

DirectorHarry Norman • Harry@cpidubai.comTel: +971 4 375 1502

Business Development ManagerDeep Karani • deep@cpidubai.comM. +971 50 8585905

Business Development ManagerRuan Marais • ruan@cpidubai.comTel: +971 4 375 1499

DesignCris Malapitan • malapitan.c@cpidubai.com

Digital Services Manager IT DepartmentTroy Maagma • troy@cpidubai.com

Web DeveloperWaseem Shahzad • waseem@cpidubai.com

ProductionJames P. TharianRajeesh M

CirculationRochelle Almeidarochelle@cpidubai.com

USA and CanadaKanika SaxenaDirector - North America25 Kingsbridge Garden Cir. Suite 919Mississauga, ON. Canada L5R 4B1kanika@cpi-industry.comtel/fax: + 1 905 890 5031

Published by:

Head OfficePO Box 13700 Dubai, UAETel: +971 4 375 1500Fax: +971 4 365 9986www.megawhatme.com / www.h2ome.netPrinted by:Printwell Printing Press LLC© Copyright 2012 CPI.All rights reserved.While the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all information in this magazine, they will not be held responsible for any errors therein.

Anoop K Menonanoop@cpi-industry.com

Read the digital version @ www.powerandwater-me.com

The nexus between water and energy is nowhere so tightly wound as in the Middle East,

more so in the Gulf region. Power and water are fundamental to human sustenance, social well-being and economic activity. But it is also true that nowhere else in the world are these fundamentals subject to their greatest challenges than in the Middle East which boasts of some of the highest per capita consumption of water and power (in both relative and actual terms) in the world. In the Gulf region, which accounts for 20% of global oil supply and nearly 50% of the world’s desalination capacity, the relationship between water and energy is even more crucial.

As Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, MD & CEO of Masdar pointed out in his speech at the inauguration of the sixth World Future Energy Summit (WFES) last month, energy and water security rests on two key principles: reducing demand, and accelerating technology that improves access. “But fundamental to these principles is the need to address water and energy through an integrated strategy and as

one... achieving it will require creating the necessary regulations and policies, forging public and private partnerships and driving the investment required to deliver real solutions.” The investment aspect got a major boost when, on the concluding day of the Summit, Masdar unveiled its ambitious long-term plan to develop large-scale commercially-viable desalination plants that are fully powered by renewable energy sources by 2020.

Addressing the water energy nexus is crucial to addressing the disparity in the distribution of energy resources in the Arab world. For example, Jordan which shares its borders with oil rich countries imports 96% of its energy needs. In her keynote address at WFES, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan also pointed out that the region, while rich in the energy of its overwhelmingly young population is poor in the opportunities it can offer them. In that sense, renewable energy is an industry waiting to be tapped, and the Arab world is perfectly positioned not only to tap it but to lead it using the potent energy of its talented people.

An opportunity to lead

5FEBRUARY 2013

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Stand 8E29

Spotlight

Mineral insulating oil is the most widely used insulating liquid for cooling and insulation in oil-filled electrical equipment.

Standard specifications and guidelines are regularly maintained and used for purchasing and supply of virgin unused oil and also for maintenance of in-service oil.

International standard IEC 60296 is used in the electrical industry for purchasing and supply of unused mineral insulating oil. Globally it is the most widely used standard for supply of mineral oil in the electrical industry. Both users and producers realised some weakness in this standard;

Specification and maintenance

guide for mineral insulating oil

therefore during IEC TC10 general meeting in 2005, it was decided to revise this standard. As of FEBRUARY 2013 2012 the revised standard is now published. We urge all our customers to ask for these 2012 standards for all future requirements.

Among several improvements the revised standard address lower furfural content of the oil as well as clearer definitions of additives. Demands on testing for sulfur induced copper corrosivity were also finally formalised.For reliable operation of oil-filled electrical equipment, monitoring and maintenance of insulating liquid is essential. The characteristics of the

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Spotlight

oil, supplied as unused, may change during service life. Therefore, the oil quality should be monitored regularly during its service life.

In many countries, power companies and electrical power authorities have established codes of practice for this purpose.

In general these cover monitoring guidelines and corrective actions depending on the oil status. If a certain amount of oil deterioration is exceeded then the possibility and risk of premature failure should be considered. While the quantification of the risk can be very difficult, a first step involves the identification of potential effects of

increased deterioration. Physical contaminants such as water and particles can be removed from the oil restoring oil breakdown voltage, however, chemical contaminants cannot be removed by simple filtration/degassing of the oil and requires chemical treatment of the oil.

This is particularly important issue for repaired transformers and refilling of these repaired units would be best with new virgin oil.

IEC 60422 is a guide for supervision and maintenance of mineral insulating oils. This standard is now under revision to take into account development in oil and equipment technology and

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inclusion of the best practices currently in use worldwide. Changes are also made to use current methodology and comply with requirements and regulations affecting safety and environmental aspects.

Should you have any questions related to the above aspects, feel free to contact:

Hendrik Cosemans(General Manager Nynas Middle East) Emial: heco@nynas.comTel. No. 00971 4 332 71 25

FEBRUARY 2013

MosaicM

os

Ai

c

According to ‘Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals: World Market’ published by the McIlvaine Company, the largest expenditures will be for corrosion and scale inhibitors used in the boiler feedwater circuit. Flocclulants are used in cooling water treatment, boiler feedwater treatment and to treat wastewater.

SubjECT 2013 ($-Million)

Activated Carbon 36

Chelants 331

Corrosion Inhibitors 2,413

Defoamers 139

Inorganic Flocculants 45

Ion Exchange 230

Odor Control 9

Organic Flocculants 103

Other 3

Oxidizers & Biocides 174

pH Adjusters 36

Scale Inhibitors 1,356

Total 4,875

Power generation utilities to spend $4.8 billion for treatment chemicals in 2013

“Standards provide a common communications architecture from a utility or energy service provider into home networks and between all of the intelligent devices. UPnP-certified devices on existing home networks provide a perfect platform for delivering Smart Grid communications and can easily bridge networks, allowing utilities and providers to communicate via a private IP backbone with their customers.”

Scott Lofgren, Vice President and Treasurer, UPnP Forum at International CES 2013. UPnP Forum is the global standards body that has paved the way for seamless connectivity between more than a billion devices.

Verbatim

According to the WEF Global Risks 2013 Report, Severe income disparity is regarded as the most likely risk over the next decade by experts on the Middle East and North Africa, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks 2013 report. Reflecting a somewhat different set of priorities from the global results of a poll of over 1,000 experts and industry leaders, respondents with expertise on the Middle East and North Africa also put water supply crises, chronic fiscal imbalances, rising religious fanaticism and volatile energy and agriculture prices in the top five most likely global risks.

Income disparity, water supply crises are key risks in MENA

Start-ups in $1.5 billion water quality analytics market

Advances in analytics techniques, driven over the last two decades by research in the pharmaceutical industry, have begun to find their way into water analytics. “Microfluidics has begun to drive down reagent volumes and has opened up new techniques to practical online analysis, and the increasing affordability of biological molecules is creating handheld instruments with sensitivities that would have been science fiction a few years ago,” says Brent Giles, Lux Research Senior Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, “Dropwise: Leveraging the Revolutionary Value of Next-Generation Water Quality Analytics. Among its findings:• Dynamax high in technical value. Using a powerful DNA-based recognition approach, Dynamax is building a library of indicators to quantify heavy metals at the part per billion (ppb) level. It scores high in technical value because its technology can handle difficult environments and offer continuous monitoring.• Intellitect advances standard probes. Intellitect offers a suite of common sensors that can be used on a single pipe, helping drinking water companies redefine how they monitor water quality in their distribution systems. • Capilix taps agriculture market. The Netherlands-based Capilix uses miniaturised capillary electrophoresis sensors that can read a wide range of agriculturally relevant parameters to monitor water quality. Early customers include greenhouse growers, and the firm is also targeting the anaerobic digestor market.

California-based computing technology giant Apple has filed patents that involve a kind of on-demand wind energy storage system, reports Electric Light & Power/ POWERGRID International. According to the description of the technology filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, a standard wind turbine would rotate a shaft that turns a device with several paddles immersed in a fluid. Then an adjustable heat exchanger would heat the liquid in a boiler, thus providing power to a steam turbine. So is the well-known maker of laptops, tablets and smart phones taking a bite out of rival Google’s strategy to power its data centre with renewable energy?

Apple eyeing wind energy?

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10 FEBRUARY 2013

Round-up

Saudi Aramco President and CEO Khalid A Al-Falih inaugurated

the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centres’s (KAPSARC) 3.5 MW solar energy field in Riyadh in December last year. Built over an area of 55,000 m2, the solar field is currently the biggest ground-mounted solar installation connected to the electricity grid in the Kingdom. The field will feed-in the centre loads and electricity grid with 5,800 MWhr of electricity annually. The field uses 12,684 fixed-angle Polycrystalline PV panels provided by Suntech with 14.4% efficiency and maximum power of 280 watts at standard test conditions. The DC power generated by the panels is collected and inverted to AC power through four inverters. The 5,800 MWH amount of renewable energy will enable the KAPSARC facility to achieve the platinum LEED certificate. The field will offset CO2 emissions by about 4,900 tonnes every year.

Suntech powers Saudi Arabia’s largest solar installation

GE Oil & Gas opens new Iraq facility

G E Oil & Gas has established a new technology and service centre

near Basra City, in the heart of the oil-rich North Rumaila region. The facility brings the latest GE technology and expertise to local customers to help boost production in the Rumaila oil field. In addition to being a base for the supply of pressure control equipment to Iraq’s drilling and production sector, the new centre provides a wide range of services including installation and maintenance, testing, inspections, repair and storage. Future services will include complete non-destructive testing capabilities, machine, welding and heat treatment, blasting and painting and API certification and recertification. Rumaila is one of the largest oil fields in the world, and its continued development is a key to Iraq’s long-term economic growth. More than 250 production wells currently are operating in the field, located near the Kuwaiti border in southern Iraq. The oil produced from the field represents about 40% of Iraq’s total oil production.The field will offset CO2 emissions by about 4,900 tonnes every year

A BB has won an order to design and deliver 420 kilovolt (kV) high

voltage gas insulated switchgear (GIS) that will facilitate the supply of power to a new desalination facility and support the grid integration of a new 2.5 GW power generation plant in Saudi Arabia. These new facilities are being developed by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC). The order was received from the Al Fanar Group, a leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company. The 550,000m3/day desalination plant, scheduled to be commissioned in June 2014, is located in Yanbu Industrial City, on the Red Sea in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia.

ABB to supply GIS for Saudi desalination plant A METEK Power Instruments, a

unit of AMETEK, has named ADM Electric, a leading provider of instrumentation and control systems for the power generation and process industries, as a distributor for AMETEK Power Instrument products in France, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Jordan, Nigeria and Tunisia. AMETEK products now available through ADM Electric include sensors, probes, on-and-off engine cables and pressure transmitters. ADM Electric is an ISO 9001 engineering firm that has provided best-in-class instrumentation and control solutions for more than 12 years to the power, water, oil and gas, and petrochemical industries. It has sales and service locations in Lebanon, France and Algeria.

Ametek Power Instruments names regional distributor

B WA Water Additives, a leading global provider of specialty

chemicals for industrial water treatment and desalination, will showcase its latest high performance solutions at Water China 2013, which will held from March 4 – 6, 2013 in Tianjin, China. BWA will showcase the latest developments with its Belgard range of antiscalants and Belite antifoaming agents for thermal desalination. These products, which include an enhanced maleate technology, are highly regarded in the thermal desalination industry for ensuring efficient, smooth operation of MSF and MED systems. BWA is also continuing its global rollout of Flocon 885, the industry’s first and only highlybiodegradable, phosphorus free, nitrogen free antiscalant for RO membranes. Compatible with all major membranes and having international potable water approvals, Flocon 885 is readily biodegradable in salt water conditions, inherently biodegradable in fresh water conditions, and can be monitored in feed water using just a flourimeter.

BWA Water Additives to participate in Water China 2013

11FEBRUARY 2013

Round-up

DEWA and ESIA install roof-top solar in power plant

A delegation from Marafeq Qatar, a leading utility services company

based in Doha visited Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower), the largest district cooling service provider in the region to understand Empower’s practices in using treated water in district cooling. Both parties agreed that with the huge construction projects taking place in Qatar, district cooling will have a bigger role to play, which

Marafeq Qatar seeks Empower re-use expertise

The Qatari delegation with Empower management in DHCC plant

A bu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) and Chromasun,

a California-based solar panel manufacturer, have begun a pilot project for roof-top solar air-conditioning in Abu Dhabi. TAQA installed 27 Chromasun Micro-Concentrator (MCT) solar panels on the rooftop of Abu Dhabi Transmission & Despatch Company (TRANSCO) in Abu Dhabi. The concentrated solar panels will provide clean renewable solar energy to the building’s air-conditioning system during peak demand hours. The Chromasun MCT technology is designed specifically for rooftop application and operation in high temperatures and dusty conditions, producing more energy per unit of roof area than many other technologies. Dr Saif Al Sayari, TAQA’s Executive Officer and Head of the Energy Solutions division, noted that roof-top solar cooling technology has great potential for peak-shaving in addition to significant energy savings. Both companies will test the technology during the next 16 months with the aim of proving its commercial viability.

TAQA starts solar cooling pilot in Abu Dhabi

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and Emirates

Solar Industry Association (ESIA) have completed the first solar power facility to be built inside an existing power plant in the Middle East. The 10kW rooftop system has been installed in DEWA’s main power generation complex in Jebel Ali. The estimated energy at the inverter output is 18,000 kWh. The clean electricity produced by this solar system will help offset 9.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. This initiative is part of research collaboration between DEWA and ESIA to measure the performance of roof-top solar systems in Dubai in different weather conditions and based on different cleaning techniques.“We are honored to partner with DEWA to measure just how effectively solar power can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Vahid Fotuhi, President of ESIA.

H eadworks, a provider of advanced wastewater treatment processes

and equipment for municipal and industrial facilities globally, announced the launch of ‘Headworks International.’ as the parent company of wholly-owned subsidiaries Headworks BIO and Headworks. Headworks International, headquartered in Houston, Texas, has sales and engineering offices in Canada, the Middle East and India. The Company’s global footprint includes multiple MBBR installations in nine countries and over 1,000 screens and screenings handling equipment installations in 22 countries as well as nine of the top 10 cities by population in the US.

Headworks International launched as global brand

T he Dow Chemical Company was named to the Thomson Reuters Top

100 Global Innovators list for the second, consecutive year in recognition of the Company’s R&D and patent leadership. The list recognises the most innovative companies in the world, selected using a proprietary series of patent-focused metrics. “This distinction has affirmed yet again the unique role that our technology and science-based solutions play in addressing the evolving challenges and everyday needs of our planet,” said Andrew N Liveris, Dow Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “The power of our innovation portfolio translates directly into success for our company, our customers, and for society as a whole.”

Dow honored Top 100 Global Innovator

underscores the importance of learning from Dubai successful experience in district cooling. The delegation was briefed about the Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) system adopted by Empower to provide district cooling services. The Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) plant visited by the delegation has a capacity to deliver 1,000 m3/day of pure water based on Reverse Osmosis technology.

12 FEBRUARY 2013

In the Region

(From left to Right): H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority; Corrado Sommariva, President of the International Desalination Association; H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar; H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency; Adnan Amin, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Pilot programme to accelerate the development of sustainable desalination technologies

Masdar launches renewable energy desalination programme

M asdar has launched a pilot programme to test and develop advanced

energy-efficient seawater desalination technologies suitable to be powered by renewable energy sources. The long-term goal of the programme is to implement renewable energy-powered desalination plants in the United Arab Emirates and to have a facility at commercial scale by 2020.

The pilot programme is a direct result of a call to action to improve water security made by His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, which will stimulate growth, promote investment and advance the desalination sector.

“The availability of potable water is one of the most pressing issues in the world, particularly in the Gulf region where water production is a costly and energy-intensive process,” said H.E. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company.

“With the UAE’s growing economy and rising population, it is crucial that we identify a sustainable desalination solution to meet our long-term water needs,” added Dr Al Jaber. “Connecting desalination technologies to renewable energy enables us to capitalise on our abundant resources, such as solar, as a solution to improve water security.

“As a global leader accelerating new

energy and sustainable development, Masdar is taking serious action to tackle this problem directly. This programme is the critical first step in identifying viable technologies that will lead to water security for future generations,” said Dr Al Jaber.

Working with technology partners and investors, the pilot programme includes three test sites in the UAE and will operate for 3.5 years. By pairing state-of-the-art energy efficient desalination technologies with renewable energy, the programme aims to significantly reduce energy consumption. The programme will bridge the gap between promising desalination technologies, which are being developed in universities and research centres worldwide, and large-scale industrial applications powered by renewable energy.

“The Middle East is in the process of addressing its long-term sustainable water access and security,” said Dr Corrado Sommariva, president of the International Desalination Association. “Masdar is embarking on an important path of discovery by advancing industrial-scale, sustainable desalination technologies capable of meeting the region’s future demand for fresh drinking water. By bridging the gap between research and development and commercialisation, Masdar is providing an opportunity for scale-up of technologies that address water access, while also having economic, social and

environmental benefits.”Masdar will coordinate the pilot

programme with key Abu Dhabi stakeholders, such as the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority, the Regulation and Supervision Bureau, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company.

“In parallel to its own efforts, ADWEA looks forward to collaborating with Masdar on the development of desalination technologies with improved energy efficiency in line with our commitment to improving the sustainability of our operations,” said H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority. “We strongly support such collaboration and Masdar’s efforts in this regard.”

Masdar will be issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Technological Development inviting industrial players to submit co-development proposals to pilot in-house desalination technologies with Masdar. Partnerships will be co-financed by Masdar and benefit from technological expertise available from the Masdar Institute of Technology and Science – a graduate-level, research-oriented university focused on advanced energy and sustainability.

“This is a collective challenge that will require a cooperative effort from the public and private sector,” said Dr Al Jaber. “Through co-innovation, and working closely with partner companies, we anticipate real opportunities to bring to market the next generation of sustainable desalination technologies.”

The announcement of the desalination pilot programme was attended by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority; Her Excellency Razan Al Mubarak, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency; and Adnan Amin, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency.

The desalination pilot programme was announced at the inaugural International Water Summit at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

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14 FEBRUARY 2013

In the Region

G E’s Power Conversion business has announced that it has won a contact of more than USD10

million to supply eight pump drive trains, as well as process automation for the largest waste water treatment project in the world. It will be located just outside of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and will provide water for local agricultural needs.

This pumping station project is part of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program (STEP), a 40-kilometre long wastewater tunnel intended to address rapidly growing needs for the collection and transport of used water generated by the growth of Abu Dhabi. It is a key element of the government initiative to provide local agriculture with improved access to good quality water.

When fully operational in 2030, the plant, featuring wastewater pumps powered by GE’s drive trains, will be able to treat up to 70,000 m3/hour of wastewater. The pumps will be driven by GE’s vertical variable-speed motors, a highly specialised application for

GE technology to drive Abu Dhabi mega waste water projectEight vertical variable-speed GE Power Conversion drive trains to power the STEP feed pipeline project

vertical motors working at low speed (500 revolutions per minute at rated speed).

“STEP has chosen a proven GE technology, which already has a solid track record in the hydro segment,” said Keiran Coulton, industry vertical leader, GE’s Power Conversion business. “This unusual project requires that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor work closely with the suppliers of the pumps and drives to provide an optimal overall resolution. The piping arrangement in this project creates an impressive series of vertical water columns, and the motor has been designed to manage the large amounts of water that may flow backward through the system when the pumps are shut down.”

In all, GE will provide design studies and deliver eight pump drive trains (motors, variable-speed drives and transformers), each with a power of 6.38 MW, together with pump process automation. GE will deliver the first equipment in the second half of 2013 for

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product validation.GE also provided a preliminary

harmonic study to help the customer on the overall plant grid study. Its integrated automation solution has been designed to enhance the control of the pump and the motor. “The overall solution is highly energy efficient,” explained Coulton.

GE won the contract for several reasons. According to Hitachi Plant Technologies, GE’s Power Conversion business provided deep domain expertise and technical support to Hitachi and the EPC contractor from the start of discussions right through to the signing of the contract. GE also produced motor designs not available as standard in the marketplace for the project.

GE acquired Power Conversion (then known as Converteam) in September 2011. GE’s Power Conversion business applies the science and systems of power conversion to help drive the electric transformation of energy infrastructure.

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16 FEBRUARY 2013

T he 25-year Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) between Kahramaa and QEWC was

signed on January 7, 2012 and will enable Kahramaa to meet the Water Grid requirements of 2015. The 36 MIGD plant will deliver first water in June 2015. Kahramaa will purchase the entire production. QEWC has also signed an EPC contract with a consortium of Mitsubishi Corporation and Toyo Thai Public Company for the construction of the plant.

The Eversheds team, led by partner Tim Armsby with assistance from Jennifer Westall, advised the client on the tender for its water capacity expansion project as well as the negotiation of the Water Purchase Agreement and related agreements for this plant.

Armsby said: “This is a significant project for Qatar and will ensure that Qatar continues to have surplus capacity pending the launch of the next Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP), known as Facility D. The fast track project demonstrates the Qatari government’s commitment to updating utilities infrastructure across the country.”

Westall added: “The parties are now working towards reaching financial close which is expected to be achieved in the next few months. Notably the project is being financed wholly by Qatari banks, believed to be the first time this has occurred in the power & water sector.”

Energoprojekt (lead and technical) and PWC (financial) advised Kahramaa alongside Eversheds. HSBC (financial) and Norton Rose (legal) advised QEWC.

In the Region

Eversheds advised Kahramaa on the tender and the WPA

Eversheds advises Kahramaa on USD500-mn IWPXylem in expansion mode

in the Middle East

Xylem has announced it will expand its presence in the Middle East region with the opening

of a new office in Saudi Arabia in the coming months, as well as up to three additional offices in other key regional markets later this year. The company already has a presence in the UAE and Lebanon. This expansion is to support the company’s growth in the Middle East resulting from the development of its water and wastewater treatment offering. The company is also expanding its dewatering capabilities in the region.

“In the last year, we increased our capabilities in the Middle East so that we can provide what we call integrated treatment solutions,” said Mike Kuchenbrod, president of Xylem’s Water Solutions business. “What this means is that we can help customers achieve optimum wastewater treatment system performance by combining our extensive process knowledge and controls capability with the world-class, biological treatment, filtration and disinfection technologies in our portfolio.”

In addition, as part of its global dewatering expansion, Xylem presented its enhanced offering for the Middle East region during the International Water Summit. “We have expanded our dewatering or water removal capabilities in the region and now offer a rental fleet that includes the two leading drainage pump brands in the world – Flygt and Godwin – together with Xylem services to provide complete dewatering solutions in the Middle East,” said Kuchenbrod. Xylem boasts the world’s largest global dewatering rental fleet of 20,000 products, including diesel-driven, self-priming Godwin pumps and Flygt submersible electric pumps.

The company showcases innovative water technologies at International Water Summit, Abu Dhabi

Other featured highlights of Xylem’s presence at the IWS include:

•Xylem launched its award-winning wastewater pumping solution, Flygt Experior, for customers in the Middle East. This new wastewater pumping solution is a break-through technology that offers up to 50% in energy savings compared to conventional wastewater pumps. This significant reduction in energy consumption has been demonstrated at a number of pump stations around the world where the system has been installed. The Flygt Experior wastewater pumping system combines state-of-the-art hydraulics, premium efficiency motors and intelligent controls in a unique concept that the company believes sets a new standard for premium wastewater pumping.

• Xylem also rolled out its new open channel ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system, called WEDECO Duron in the region. A key benefit of the WEDECO Duron system is its small footprint and ease of maintenance. An innovative 45 degree vertical incline design, combined with Xylem’s expertise in vertical lamp arrangement, means that the Duron system requires less space than other UV systems.

• Xylem’s analytical instrumentation portfolio, marketed under the WTW, YSI and Aanderaa brands, is used across the Gulf region for water testing and analysis applications. Xylem presented new products, including YSI’s EXO multi-parameter water quality testing product and Xylem’s custom-built coastal monitoring platforms. These products are used to address challenges and provide solutions to customers’ environmental application needs.

17FEBRUARY 2013

At Large

DNV will open a new Strategic Research Unit at DNV KEMA’s global headquarters in Arnhem,

the Netherlands, which will focus exclusively on the further development of smart grids and super grids. Smart grids and super grids are key elements and a prerequisite to integrate large-scale renewable energy in the future energy system. The opening of the Strategic Research Unit was announced by Bjørn Haugland, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of DNV and member of the Supervisory Board of DNV KEMA, during a panel debate on energy transition for a global energy audience at the World Future Energy Summit.

As the world prepares for an energy transition towards the low carbon economy, the share of renewables in the fuel mix is expected to grow strongly over the next decades. Smart grids and super grids are essential for the further development of our future energy system. In November 2012, DNV KEMA already announced a EUR 70 million investment into expansion of its High-Power Laboratory to create the first

A smart grid inverter converts direct current into alternate current to integrate renewable energy sources like solar or wind energy into

the electricity grid.Strategic Research Unit for smart grids and super grids to be opened in DNV KEMA’s headquarters in the Netherlands

Keeping the lights on with renewables

laboratory in the world in the extreme testing segment for the upcoming market for super grids.

“There is a global need for extra capacity and modernisation of electricity infrastructure to meet the growing electricity demand. By opening up a strategic research unit for smart grids and super grids in Arnhem, DNV is preparing the practices and tools we need to meet the growing demand as well as facilitate the integration of large-scale renewable energy to the grids,” said Haugland.The success of the transition towards a sustainable energy system depends to a large extend on how the existing and new energy systems fit together.

Generating power from renewable sources differs substantially from power generation from conventional sources. Dominant forms of renewables such as wind and solar power are highly intermittent, so the need for more sophisticated power infrastructure and control systems is apparent. The call from different stakeholders in the global energy sector for grid flexibility and enabling

power transport and distribution technologies, such as energy storage, smart grids and the expansion of the infrastructure with ultra high-voltage lines is evident, as they enable the energy transition.

Facilitation of the different energy sources to the grid requires significant investments in knowledge development, testing, and in setting up trial projects. The strategic research unit in Arnhem is set up to translate research knowledge into practical solutions and provide results to make the right decisions. As one of the very few companies in the world, DNV covers the entire energy chain both in breath and the depth.

“There are 2,300 energy experts in DNV. With the establishment of the strategic research unit in Arnhem, we will be able to capitalise on all this expertise and experience. We will also invite external parties to work with us so that we together can create opportunities. As far as known, this is the only research center in the world that concentrates on smart grids and super grids exclusively,” said Theo Bosma, head of DNV Research & Innovation in Arnhem.

18 FEBRUARY 2013

Industry Notes

Having worked for 10 years in the Middle East, Ryuji Nagaie, As-sistant General Manager Power

Division, Middle East Region, Toshiba is a true industry veteran, having been a close witness and active participant in the transformation of the region’s power generation sector. He has been closely involved with some of the major power projects executed by Toshiba in the region including the construction of two Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Power Plants in the UAE. Nagaie said: “In the UAE, during 2003-2007, we supplied En-gineering, Procurement and Construc-tion (EPC) solutions for two gas-fired, combined cycle projects at the same time - Phase 1 of Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s (DEWA) Jebel Ali L Power and Desalination Project and the Umm Al Nar Independent Water Power Project (IWPP) in Abu Dhabi. In addition to total plant engineering, we also supplied the steam turbines for these projects.”

Toshiba’s Abu Dhabi office, where Nagaie is based, comes under Toshiba Gulf FZE, which was set up in 1997 as the company’s regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). The Abu Dhabi office is in charge of power generation and T&D projects. Recently, a new branch office was opened in Riyadh under Toshiba Gulf to focus on the Saudi market.

At present, East Africa (which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia) is also covered from the Middle East main office. This region’s importance has increased after Toshiba bagged a contract from Kenya Electric-

ity Generating Company to supply equipment for Kenya’s largest ever geothermal power plant project.

Toshiba also has a service business company in Kuwait called Toshiba Power Systems and Services Kuwait to service the 22 steam turbine units installed by the company in Kuwait. In fact, Toshiba’s share of Kuwait’s steam turbine market is 40%, making it the market leader by a long shot.

Toshiba’s broader strategy of expand-ing overseas revenues by growing and reinforcing its social infrastructure busi-ness which includes power generation is expected to reflect on its Middle East aspirations as well. Nagaie pointed out that with power generation consti-tuting a significant part of the social infrastructure business, Toshiba Power Systems Company, which looks into power generation, is focussing on rapidly expanding the business globally. He said: “While other companies may have been here for a longer time than us, our new branch offices will play a key role in growing our business in the region.”

To cite Toshiba’s 2012 Annual Re-port: ‘In the Social Infrastructure segment Toshiba Group, including Westinghouse Electric Company, has the largest share in the global

A powerful outlookRyuji Nagaie, Assistant General Manager Power Division, Middle East Region, Toshiba shares his company’s Middle East agenda.

By Anoop K Menon

19

Industry Notes

nuclear power generation market, and also holds top level shares in the thermal, hydro and geothermal power generation markets, both in Japan and overseas. The report further states: ‘To cope with further demand growth in overseas markets, we are strengthening local ties through proactive allocations of resources and development of optimal overseas sites that will allow us to acceler-ate local production for local consump-tion and expand business scale.’

Middle East FocusIn thermal power generation, of rel-

evance to the Middle East are Toshiba’s key offerings in terms of steam turbines, generators, total plant control systems and EPC services. The company’s main strategy for the thermal power generation market is to squeeze higher performance out of traditional tech-nologies by developing high-efficiency, low emission systems. “Our eco-friendly power generation technologies will be the main differentiating factor,” said Nagaie. “The fact that we provide world class EPC services means we are in a better position to integrate conven-tional and eco-friendly technologies to build a more efficient power plant.”

A significant development with regard to Toshiba’s thermal power strategy is the signing of a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) with GE last month to form a global strategic al-liance, under which the two companies would jointly develop select combined-cycle power generation projects around the world. Additionally, under the MoU, the two companies will explore the formation of a strategic joint venture for the development of next-generation combined-cycle power projects with higher levels of thermal efficiency. The MoU follows an order bagged by Toshiba last year to build gas-fired power generation systems for Chubu Electric Power’s Nishi Nagoya Ther-mal Power Plant in Japan. The plant will combine GE’s new FlexEfficiency technology (GE 7F 7-series gas turbines) with Toshiba’s steam turbines, genera-

tors and engineering services to achieve the world’s highest thermal efficiency of 62% (at site conditions). The MoU seeks to extend this winning collabora-tion to customers around the world. Nagaie believes that such systems have great potential in the Levant and North African markets.

Another key development has been-the opening of the company’s super critical steam turbine and generator manufacturing facility in Chennai, India in February 2012. The new manufactur-ing facility will produce high-efficiency steam turbines and generators for super critical thermal power plants, in generating capacities ranging from 500 MW to 1,000 MW. It will form a major manufacturing hub serving the global markets, alongside Toshiba’s manufacturing base in Japan.

“One of our key strategies is to expand our business globally,” said Nagaie. “Geographically, India is close to the Gulf, Middle East and East Africa.”

The initial production at the new site will be shipped to customers in India while subsequent output will be exported to emerging economies of Southeast Asia and the Middle East. By FY2015, production capacity at the site is expected to reach the equiva-lent of six GW.

Alternative opportunitiesBeyond conventional power gen-

eration, Nagaie has high hopes for Toshiba’s renewable energy expertise, especially geothermal and solar. In geothermal power generation, Toshiba claims to be the world leader with a 25% market share. The company bagged its first geothermal power project in Africa in 2011, bagging a contract from Kenya Electricity Generat-ing Company to supply four 70,000kW steam turbines and generators for the Olkaria I and Olkaria IV geothermal power plants. Located in the Rift Valley 100 kilometres northwest of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, the Olkaria I extension and Olkaria IV will have a combined output of 280,000kW and is equivalent

to 25% of the total of Kenya’s cur-rent total installed power generation capacity. With regard to photovoltaic power generation, Toshiba hopes to translate its leadership of the Japanese market into business opportunities in the region. On the nuclear energy front, Toshiba’s unique position enables it to offer both BWR and PWR technologies.

Commenting on Toshiba’s plans for the Middle East in 2013, Nagaie said the focus will be on greater collaboration between regional offices, expanding the conventional power generation busi-ness - steam and combined cycle plants and building closer relationships with clients. On the conventional power generation front, Toshiba will be aggressively bidding for projects as an EPC contractor. “Our engineering prowess as EPC contractor is a major differentiator compared to competitors who are more focussed on selling their products,” said Nagaie. “We can provide sophisticated and high quality EPC ser-vices for power and desalination plants in the region.”

In terms of a long term strategy, Toshiba sees scope for its advanced supercritical steam turbine technol-ogy, which has lower CO2 emissions, in the region’s oil-fired power generation market. Additionally, it is also trying to promote its Carbon Capture and Stor-age (CCS) technology in the region by cou-pling it with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). “Of course, most of the oil rich countries in the region enjoy ample production volumes today, but we are looking at the future,” said Nagaie.

Future business opportunities in the region’s power sector, he continued, is linked to population growth. “In the oil rich Gulf region, we see a lot of poten-tial in Saudi Arabia. Of course, other countries like Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar too are rich in oil, but in Saudi Arabia, you have a huge and growing local population which translates into huge business opportunities for our social infrastructure business. For example, the Saudis need to double their power gen-eration capacity in the next 10-15 years.”

20 FEBRUARY 2013

Weidmüller positions itself worldwide successfully on a sustained basis as the leading provider of solutions for electrical connectivity, transmission and conditioning of power, signal and data in industrial environments.

As experienced experts we support our customers and partners around the world with products, solutions and services in the industrial environment of power, signal and data. We are at home in their industries and markets and know the technological challenges of tomorrow. We are therefore continuously developing innovative, sustainable and useful solutions for their individual needs. Together we set standards in Industrial Connectivity. The Weidmüller Group owns manufacturing plants, sales companies and representatives in more than 80 countries. In its fiscal year 2011 Weidmüller reached sales of 620 million Euros with 4,400 employees.

ElectronicsThe strategic business unit Electronics develops and provides electronic solutions for industrial automation and process control applications as well as for power generation inside and outside of the cabinet.

Process - Safety comes firstWeidmüller is committed to providing customers with products and services conforming to both our high international standards as well as international quality and safety standards. Wherever connections are made within electrical distribution systems or within controls and monitoring systems, Weidmüller products help maintain signal accuracy, reliability and stability.Weidmüller products are used in all types of process applications and environments – from power generation and distribution plants to offshore and onshore hazardous area applications for the oil, gas and chemical industries.

Weidmüller products are certified in accordance with all major international standards, including the new European ATEX directives. Moreover Weidmüller has become known as the de-facto standard when it comes to electrical connection products in hazardous areas. Many nuclear stations use Weidmüller products and Weidmüller is the only manufacturer with terminals tested to IEEE standards 323 (1983) and 344 (1987), for Class 1E equipment, i.e. for equipment used within nuclear containment areas both inside and outside the containment area.

While environmental conditions in both power and water treatment plants can be difficult for electrical connections,

Weidmüller has provided solutions to withstand conditions such as high vibration, temperature and humidity. Protecting power supplies and low voltage systems from voltage surges, including lightning discharges is another Weidmüller speciality.PowerPartnership for powerHow has Weidmüller maintained such a strong relationship with the power industry for over 40 years? The partnership with power undoubtedly started with its “Klippon” terminals. From the early days of screw terminals and assembled enclosures, Weidmüller’s portfolio has continuously been extended and improved. Today a wide

DRM RelayNew generation pluggable relay series from Weidmuller to meet all your switching requirments

Power SupplyWeidmüller features a wide variety of centralized and decentralized power supply units – including centralized switch-mode power supplies as well as decentralized 24-VDC FieldPower®-networked switch-mode power supplies. These products allow Weidmüller to optimally support the requirements of automation applications while ensuring that plant down time is minimized.

TERMOPTO Electrical isolation in terminal-block format with PUSH IN connection technology

PRO-MPower supplies for space-saving use in automation technology

Lightning & Overvoltage ProtectionWeidmüller offers a complete product series of surge protection devices (SPD) for industrial power, signalling and data systems.

Industrial IT enabledWeidmüller’s managed switches have been certified as “Industrial IT Enabled” by ABB, a leading global company in the power and automation sector.

Christian Kleinjung,Managing Director

21FEBRUARY 2013

Plastic Cable GlandsWith plastic threaded rings for use in harsh environments

RJ45 and M12 ConnectionsWeidmüller distinguishes between three “application levels” in Ethernet applications. The adequate kind of connection and cabling is based on the type of application level.

Engineering CompetenceThe development of practice-oriented products does not only happen in the developers’ brains. In fact, even good ideas always have to be verified by the requirements of practice during the whole process of development.

MulticardWith more than 160 variants, MultiCard offers an exceptionally wide selection of marking solutions for every type of application.

Klippon STB enclosuresThe new Klippon® STB steel enclosure range is suitable for use in hazardous environments as well as in industrial applications.

A simple and Secure connectionWeidmüller now offers an innovative system for coding and identifying industrial interfaces based on variant4.

Electrical ConnectivityOur traditional and successful core business unit Electrical Connectivity stands for an extensive product range of “systematic components” for the complete construction of passive network infrastructures for automation systems, i.e. for power, signals and data.

range of Weidmüller products are being used in various types of power plants.

But operators’ requirements don’t just stop at the power plant. They also need products for transmissionand distribution systems, including sub-stations.

Weidmüller offers solutions and products for the following areas of the power industry: Thermal power plants• coal-fired power plant • gas-fired power plant • nuclear power plantRenewable energy• water power • wind power • photovoltaic • biomass, biogas Transmission and distribution• switching technology • network protection • measurement technique Starting at the coal-mill within a coal-fired plant over steam generation, generation of electrical energy trough the transmission and distribution of electrical energy, many of Weidmueller products are used. Weidmüller does offer a long-term and broad in-depth knowledge about the various fields of energy production. From standard terminals,

innovative Push In technology over functional electronics with transducers, transmitters etc. and state of the art communication electronics for Industrial Ethernet, Bluetooth and others up to customer specific solutions and assemblies, we will find the right solution and product for your needs.

Your are looking for specialised solutions? Talk to us! Weidmüller is your partner when it comes to products and solutions for electrical connectivity, functional and communications electronics, as well as fitted solutions for your application.Reliable surge protectionLighting bolts and other voltage peaks require increased protection of equipment. Especially at risk are free-standing areas of power plants far away from the main building, e.g. control units of a fuel storage, of water processing or telecontrol installations. Furthermore, solar and wind power plants also require special attention regarding surge protection.Nuclear power plantsQuality and realiability are of great importance for power plants, but even more so for nuclear power plants. This applies especially to all components of the containment-area. All installations in the safety area are subjects to strict testing. The goal is the lowest possible change in characteristics of electrical equipments,

such as insulation resistance and voltage drop.

The basis for the certification of products through local authorities are mostly the ANSI / IEEE - standards 323-2003 and 344-1987(R1993).

Weidmüller products have successfully passed numerous tests. The elements of equipment qualification (EQ) testing are:• Radiation ageing: the equipment is subjected to the full predicted accumulated radiation it will be exposed to over the station’s lifespan. • Thermal ageing: the test simulates a working lifetime at high ambient temperature by means of a shorter period at a much higher temperature. • Seismic resistance: a vibration test that simulates a predicted earthquake event. • Loss of coolant accident (LOCA): the LOCA test simulates the environmental conditions within the containment area following a primary reactor coolant leak.

Weidmüller provides EQ-tested products. We have supplied suitable terminals and terminal box assemblies to scores of power plant projects around the world. In many places, our products have had to pass additional, stringent, special testing to meet local standards.

22 FEBRUARY 2013

Industry Notes

I n line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice

President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, Dubai Municipality underlined its commitment to sustainable development in collaboration with the private sector for the benefit of public when Eng. Hussain Nassir Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality opened the region’s largest landfill gas recovery system at the Municipality’s Al Qusais Landfill site, while ensuring that the site remains active.

Lootah said the new landfill gas recovery project is a significant milestone and powerful demonstration of public private partnership in driving a CDM project. He continued: “It underlines our commitment to be an active partner in achieving the ‘Green Economy for Sustainable Development’. Our goal is to establish Dubai as a thought leader in green initiatives, and through our new project, we are not only contributing to mitigating the impact of greenhouse gases on environmental degradation but also promoting social well-being.”

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) initiative is registered with the United Nations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The implementation of the large-scale CDM project marks a new milestone for the region targeting the reduction

of methane (CH4) measured in tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the landfill, with an annual reduction of approximately 250,000 tonnes.

The project has been designed, constructed and implemented by Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability, a specialist organisation in the sector based in Dubai. The landfill gas recovery system will operate the flares by utilising GE’s Jenbacher gas engine to generate 1 MW (1,000 kW) of power. This will be used to operate the Hofstetter Umwelttechnik high efficiency gas conversion and flare equipment installed at the site.

This is the first Jenbacher engine to be deployed for a landfill gas application in the GCC region, and also underlines the Dubai Municipality initiative as the region’s first project to generate electricity from landfill gas.

The Al Qusais Landfill is one of the largest sites for municipal waste collection in Dubai receiving about 5,000 tons daily. Landfills traditionally are big emitters of GHGs passively, venting harmful gases into the atmosphere with the decomposition of the organic portion of the Municipal Waste. Landfill gas comprises approximately 55% methane and 45% carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases that contribute to environmental degradation.

Construction work for the landfill gas project started in January 2012, with horizontal and vertical gas wells being

drilled some 22 metres deep into the waste to extract the landfill gas. The gas collection system implemented by Green Energy Solutions collects landfill gas through an intricately laid 20-km network of horizontal and vertical pipes. With the official commissioning of the plant, initially a small portion of the gas will be utilised for power generation in the initial phase while a high-efficiency flare with a capacity of flaring 6,000 cubic metres per hour of landfill gas will safely dispose methane. The design and construction implemented on the Al Qusais landfill manages odours, and reduces health risks fire and adverse environmental impacts.

Anita Nouri, Business Development Director of Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability Solutions said: “The social, economic and environmental benefits of the project highlight the effectiveness of the project, which can be replicated in other landfill sites in the region.”

Nabil Habayeb, President & CEO, GE Middle East, North Africa & Turkey said: “As a long-term partner in the energy, power and water sector of the region, GE is committed to introduce advanced solutions that strengthen operational efficiencies and promote sustainability. Many of GE’s Jenbacher products are ecomagination-qualified, providing customers with products that improve their operating performance, reduce environmental impact, and have wide acceptance in the Middle East region.”

DM launches region’s first landfill gas recovery system Initiative will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to over 250,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

23FEBRUARY 2013

Industry Notes

Finding the right grooveKing Abdul Aziz Endowment (DOKAAE) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, solved its engineering challenges using grooved piping technology

J ust a short distance from the world’s largest mosque, the King Abdul Aziz Endowment (DOKAAE)

complex in Mecca includes seven towers, each taller than the next, in a pattern designed to deliver maximum visibility of the Holy Mosque and a maximum capacity of 65,000 guests or visitors. The developer and contractor is the largest construction company in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Binladin Group

Known as the Abraj Al-Bait Towers, these seven structures currently hold several world records of their own, including the world’s tallest clock tower at 530 metres, the largest clock face at 1,849m2 and the world’s largest floor area at approximately 1.5 million m2. The Towers also contain the world’s tallest hotel, which at 601m is currently the second highest building in the world.

Victaulic grooved mechanical piping systems were used in all areas of DOKAAE including HVAC, Fire Protection and desalination, with pipe sizes ranging from 2” up to 60” (50.8 to 1525mm) and pressure ratings of up to 17.75 bars. Piping materials used included both copper and stainless steel.

The project took over seven years to

complete and included a nine-storey chilling plant with more than 65,000 tonnes of cooling water capacity. Victaulic was used extensively, including 168 heat exchangers, as well as on main connections and risers.

Using Victaulic systems enabled prefabrication, whilst flame-free assembly using grooved products not only sped up installation times but kept welding to a minimum as local ambient temperatures rose over 50 degrees centigrade.

A Victaulic mechanical joint, or coupling, is comprised of four basic elements: the pipe groove, the gasket, the coupling housings, and the nuts and bolts. A pipe groove is formed by cold forming or machining a groove into the end of a pipe.

The coupling gasket is pressure responsive and is encased by the coupling housing when it engages in the groove around the circumference of the pipe. The gasket then creates a seal unified joint that is enhanced when the system is pressurised. The company claims that this is faster than welding or flanging, is robust and reliable and is a flame-free system.

24 FEBRUARY 2013

Industry Notes

BASEC gets tough on approvals

Cable test and certification body tightens manufacturers’ product approvals processes

Dr Jeremy Hodge, Chief Executive of

BASEC

The British Approvals Service for Cables (BASEC) has for over 40 years been a mark of

reassurance to those specifying cable, rigorously testing electrical wiring and power cables, data and signal cables to meet necessary and appropriate British, European and international standards through detailed examination of manufacturers’ production processes and controls.

To help stamp out the general problem of counterfeits, BASEC has been working with trade organisations, user groups and industry initiatives across the world in identifying the source of problem cable, which could be unscrupulous manufacturers, importers or distributors who are not complying with their legal duties under UK, European or international regulations. BASEC has revised and tightened up its own certification processes to make it more challenging for manufacturers to achieve and maintain approval, and in particular to make it more difficult for manufacturers to produce non-conforming cable, accidentally or intentionally, without this being identified by them or by BASEC.However, there have been rare

occasions when manufacturers, that have previously been awarded BASEC approval for a product, have then produced a batch of cables that is non-compliant. This has led to BASEC carrying out an industry wide investigation resulting in the suspension of the manufacturer’s certifications, recalling product and then

witnessing the subsequent destruction of the product. BASEC acknowledges that since these are approved products that are being recalled this can result in further nervousness and confusion within the market place.

Dr Jeremy Hodge, chief executive of BASEC explained: “BASEC’s approval procedures are designed to check that each manufacturer has reliable and robust manufacturing and quality systems, but it is impracticable to check every metre of cable produced. However, BASEC does have a rigorous programme of sampled audits and testing, with visits made to each factory every few months. At each visit, BASEC selects a number of samples of cable from recent production for testing - up to 200 samples each year from every factory. Any test failures found are followed up immediately. BASEC imposes strict certification rules on manufacturers and all cable produced must be tested by the manufacturer before release for sale. If there are any problems or changes that might affect cable quality the manufacturer is obliged to notify BASEC immediately.

“We have made additions to the BASEC approvals process to make it tougher for manufacturers to achieve and maintain certification. This has been put into action and over the past few months with further changes planned. We have enforced a number of additional stringent actions that manufacturers have to pass to be awarded or even be considered for BASEC approval.”

BASEC has introduced a new ‘risk-based’ applicant review and quotation process where high risk applicants are

subjected to an in-depth critique of their business which looks at; factory tenure, cable manufacturing experience, quality plans, trade references, necessary up to date standards as well as many other factors, before BASEC will even consider certifying their operation. Also for all new applicants a minimum of two auditors are assigned for the initial audit. BASEC auditors are rigorous in their evaluation of new requirements including the risk-based audits as well as test witnessing, cable production witnessing, and unannounced audit protocols.

A pre-requisite now is for manufacturers to hold ISO 9001 from BASEC and to provide comprehensive design and materials information on all cables submitted for approval. All clients will be subjected to one or more annual unannounced visits, in addition to their regular audits, and additional days are being spent reviewing production processes and manufacturers’ cable testing facilities.

Dr Hodge continued: “Many unannounced full factory audits have already been conducted on BASEC clients this year and if we find anything suspicious, investigations will be launched and certifications will if necessary be revoked. These are certainly not the only changes we will be making. All aspects of certification, testing, and on-site inspections are being looked at in detail. It is going to be much harder for manufacturers to gain BASEC approval as well as to maintain it. Over the coming year, we will be announcing further changes to the certification process.”

“It should be highlighted though that if a manufacturer sets out to deliberately produce and supply sub-standard cable it could elude any checking system. But remember that investigations have revealed that the highest risk of cable being non-compliant is with unmarked cable or cable lacking a manufacturer’s origin mark. So, our message to wholesalers and contractors is always specify an independently approved cable and check cable markings on delivery and before installation. If suspicious cable is found, contact BASEC for advice, and be assured that each and every concern will be investigated.”

25FEBRUARY 2013

Doing oceanography surveys or reconnaissance of marine environments remotely and

efficiently with minimal fuss. Nymphea Environnement’s Remote Survey Ve-hicle (RSV) enables you to do that and more. The company, a part of European construction giant VINCI GROUP, exhib-ited the latest iteration of this remote controlled boat during ADIPEC 2012 in Abu Dhabi.

The RSV is a remote-controlled float-ing platform on which a broad variety of air or underwater sensors can be installed. It can thus be used for surveil-lance and measurement operations. According to the Nymphea spokes-person, the craft is a simple, afford-able, and non-polluting alternative to conventional sea-going resources used in the protection of ports, surveillance of specific areas and the observation of hazardous events. Apart from surveys, the RSV is also ideal for operations at industrial and oil sites. Real-time data transmission to a control centre on land or aboard a vessel provides operators with secure data acquisition and thus helps in decision-making. “Data can be transmitted through long range wi-fi to

Remote supportNymphea Environnement’s Remote Survey Vehicle is designed to tackle difficulties typically encountered during marine surveys and reconnaissance activities

the receiving computer up to a distance of approximately two kilometres,” said the spokesperson. The vessel can be used in in shallow waters from -0.4 me-tres, making it suitable for operations in areas inaccessible to standard vessels.

Moreover, the vehicle is electrically-propelled with autonomy of up to 12 hours depending on the equipment used. This includes position sensors, sonar devices (for detecting objects, re-connaissance of buried objects, such as pipelines, current and depth measure-ment), communication systems and an autopilot with an anti-collision system. The boat has radar to detect other ves-sels in the vicinity up to 50 metres while real time video camera with infra red and GPS provides visual identification and location capabilities.

Compared with other surface craft, the RSV’s main advantages are that it is lightweight and takes up very little space. It can be easily transported by air, enabling it to be deployed very quickly, thus optimising its operational effectiveness. Made up of inter-connect-able modules, the RSV can be deployed in under 20 minutes. It is equipped with latest-generation sensors and requires

only two operators. “From the time we receive the order, we can be be up and running within 24 hours or less - we can deflate the boat and fly it in a com-mercial aircraft and take it to remote locations with associated equipment,” explained the spokesperson.

The RSVs are leased by Nymphea Environnement with trained personnel to the clients. “We are selling a service, not a product,” said the spokesperson.

Electric-powered and with over 90% of the materials used in its construc-tion being recyclable, the RSV is very environment-friendly. Its capabilities mean that it can perform many opera-tions traditionally carried out by more conventional means, such as large ships, while reducing the operation costs and mobilisation time.

The vessel on display in Abu Dhabi was the latest iteration of a five-year old technology. RSV has been success-fully used for surveys in Lebanon, Qatar, Libya in the Middle East. Nymphea Environnement has set up offices in the UAE to market the service to oil and gas, offshore engineering companies, utili-ties and government organisations in the region.

Industry Notes

26 FEBRUARY 2013

ON THE RECORD

Could you tell us about your key markets and areas where company leads the industry?

We are one of the top three players worldwide in Transmission & Distribution (T&D) with a range of products and full geographical coverage. Of course, some areas of the T&D market are experiencing more change, growth and innovation than others. Two areas of strong focus for Alstom Grid (and where we enjoy strong differentiation) are super grids and smart grids. In super grid or HVDC, we are a major global player with full range of technologies from the traditional

Grégoire Poux-Guillaume, President of Alstom Grid and Executive Vice President of Alstom, started his career in the energy sector in 1993 as a drilling engineer with Total Exploration & Production. in between his stints with Alstom, which he first joined in 2003 as Vice President strategy, he worked with McKinsey & company and cVc capital Partners before re-joining the company in 2011, where he took up his current responsibilities in July 2011. During the UAE stopover of a whistle-stop tour of the region last month, Grégoire, together with his Regional commercial Vice President Mazen Hamadallah, sat down with Anoop K Menon to talk about Alstom Grid’s focus areas, investment strategy and future plans for the region.

Thyristor-based Line Commutate Converter (LCC) HVDC to the newer Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) based Voltage Source Converter (VSC). We secured the first reference for our HVDC MaxSine VSC technology a little more than a year ago in Sweden on highly significant and complex project called South-West Link, which connects Barkeryd in central Sweden to Hurva in southern Sweden. More recently, in India, we were awarded a turnkey contract by Power Grid Corporation of India to connect Champa (in state of Chhattisgarh, Central India,) to Kurukshetra (in the state of Haryana, North India), using 800 kV LCC technology. We are currently executing Brazil’s Rio Madeira project, the longest Direct Current transmission line in the world.

We want to be at the forefront of the evolving T&D market, in terms of its needs and requirements and at the same time, differentiate ourselves. In

fact, Alstom Grid is one of the very few companies worldwide to have mastered super grid technologies, both on the industrial component side as well as the system and control component sides.

On the smart grid front, historically, we are the leaders in control systems for T&D. In Qatar, for example, we built KAHRAMAA’s National Control Centre which monitors and manages the country’s main electricity transmission network. From this expertise in management of the grid, we have progressively moved down to the distribution level, getting into areas like Distribution Management, all the way from fault management and network management to field interventions. All these applications are linked to availability for the distribution operators and satisfaction for the customer. In Demand Response, we had an impressive roll out late last year for PJM, a regional transmission organisation in the US which

Big on the Grid

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ON THE RECORD

coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in the North Eastern parts of the country. Our system is operating up to 15 GW of demand response capacity in PJM Interconnection, which is North America’s largest wholesale energy market. They found our system a more economical and environmentally-friendly alternative to constructing new power plants. In Denmark, our distributed generation management system manages their entire wind power asset base, even going on to forecast how the wind is going to blow and its impact on the grid. From distribution, we have further progressed to the neighbourhood. In cities in the US and Europe, we have demonstrators at neighbourhood level comprising of elements like roof-top solar, charging stations for electrical vehicles, building management systems and even demand-response systems. We build the intelligence that manages the optimisation of these various systems. These are areas of technical differentiation and growth for us.

Is there scope for deploying these advanced grid technologies in the Middle East?

Mazen Hamadallah: At the fourth General Conference of Arab Union of Electricity, held last month in Doha, there was a presentation on the Arab Interconnection Grid, which comprises of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) interconnecting the six Gulf countries, the Eight Country Interconnection Project and the Maghreb Countries Interconnection Project. The Arab Electricity Union’s objective is to connect all 22 Arab countries and ultimately, connect with Europe through Turkey or Italy. Alstom Grid has the right products and technologies and importantly, strong local presence in these countries which puts us in a strong position to tap their interconnection market. We have already demonstrated our

core expertise and strengths during the execution of Phase 1 of the GCCIA project. In fact, GCCIA is not only using our HVDC technology but also our network management system to control the flow of electricity among the member countries. On the smart grid front, we are currently investigating four different pilot projects in the region. In that sense, the region isn’t lagging behind rest of the world.

Has Alstom Grid drawn up any investment plan for the region?

The Middle East constitutes 20% of Alstom Grid’s business, so it is a very important market for us. Today, we have 874 people in the region but people investment is constant. We continue to see exciting growth opportunities in the region, continue to see needs that we have to cover. We do that by hiring the best people and training them but we also give them international opportunities so that they can bring their experience acquired elsewhere to this region. In terms of industrial investment, we are looking to make an investment in Saudi Arabia for making Gas Insulated Switchgears (GIS). We already have service centres in the region, and may look at leveraging Alstom Power’s regional service centres as well. Beyond all that, investments in the region will be market driven.

In the context of the two acquisitions announced by Alstom Grid in 2012, could you elaborate on the underlying strategy and also the gaps you are looking to fill in your portfolio?

In 2012, we acquired two companies – towards December, we acquired ASAT Solutions, a Canadian substation automation solutions provider, while at the start of 2012 we acquired our long-time value-added reseller EvolutionSCADA, which provides advanced open pipeline SCADA technology applications for the oil and

gas industry. We are a big player in management systems for the electrical grid, and at the same time, our skill sets and knowhow can be applied to oil and gas pipeline networks too. In fact, we pursue industrial opportunities too in addition to the utility market, and these offerings are at the heart of industrial development of the region. For example, we are very active in power systems for aluminium smelters.

While I am happy with our portfolio, we will continue to make acquisitions in areas like automation, software applications related to the grid like asset management and condition monitoring because these are really good fit to existing and future needs of the customers. Our customers want to run their substations in the most cost efficient and reliable manner, which means avoiding failures, doing preventative maintenance, and adopting an asset management approach where they can monitor and manage their assets dynamically instead of reactively. Anything that tackles that requirement has a bright future. From that perspective, yes, we look at things like digitalising substations, asset management and we will continue to make investments in these areas. Some of that will be organic and some will be through acquisitions.

Do you see HVDC and smart grid technologies contributing more to your growth in the region?

The conventional substation market is our bread and butter and forms the base of our business. We fully intend to continue our development in that market and to take on even more projects in the Middle East. The HVDC and smart grid markets are smaller and less mature and necessitate proportionately more R&D investments than the conventional market. So it is really two things and we are not giving one up for the other.

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With six primary events, two exhibitions, numerous side events and sessions,

the inaugural Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) was not without defining moments. In fact, one of the most significant announcements coming out of ADSW with global implications was the announcement by host Masdar of an ambitious long-term goal to develop large-scale commercially-viable desalination plants fully powered by renewable energy sources by 2020. ADSW’s core event – the sixth edition of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES 2013) – also celebrated its most successful year. Apart from WFES, ADSW hosted third general assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA);

A better place to gatherThe UAE and Abu Dhabi are influencing the global agenda on sustainability issues in energy, water and environment.

the International Renewable Energy Conference (ADIREC); the International Water Summit (IWS) and the fifth Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) awards ceremony.

In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, inaugurated the first Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), which also marked the opening ceremony of the sixth WFES, the fifth ADIREC and the first IWS.

In his opening remarks, H.H. General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said:

“Delivering the world with important supplies of hydrocarbons for almost half a century, it’s natural for the UAE to invest and play an active role in diversifying the energy mix to include renewable sources of energy. Through initiatives like Masdar and hosting global platforms, the UAE is encouraging the collaboration, strategic partnerships and practical solutions necessary to seriously address the energy and climate challenge.”

This year’s opening ceremony included keynote speeches from Francois Hollande, the President of France, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the President of Argentina and HRH Queen Rania of Jordan. Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO and MD

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of Masdar presented the welcome speech while Siemens presented an industry perspective.

During the opening session of ADIREC, Dr Fatih Birol, Chief Economist and Director Global Energy Economics Directorate at the International Energy Agency (IEA), outlined the challenges by saying the global energy demand will rise by one third in the period to 2035, driven by higher living standards in China, India and the Middle East. He said emerging economies underpin a 70% increase in global demand for electricity, and China and the Middle East will account for almost 40% of incremental gas-fired generation.

Dr Birol’s address was followed by the launch of the Renewables Global Futures Report (GFR) 2013 by REN21, the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century. The Renewables GFR 2013 highlights that national renewable energy markets are projected to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond. Already at a national level, at least 30 countries in the world have shares of renewable energy above 20% while 120 countries have some form of long-term renewable energy targets.

The report author, Eric Martinot from the Institute for Sustainable Policies (ISEP), said the projected levels of renewable energy investment are extremely high, expected to be half

a trillion dollars by 2020 with pension funds and annuity funds emerging as potential sources of investment.

While more than 1,000 conference delegates were discussing the need for greater support from governments in terms of policy development, investment and collaboration, thousands more visitors were pouring into the 40,000 square-metre gross exhibition space at WFES 2013 to see the latest technologies and solutions in areas such as

energy efficiency, solar energy and electric transport. 650 companies from 40 countries showcased their products to an eager audience, including 70 new product launches.

A delighted Leah Liu, Sun Tech’s Marketing and Communication Manager said this was fifth time her company is participating in WFES. She continued: “We believe this is an excellent platform for reaching international companies and networking with potential partners or clients. So far we have been able to link with our trade customers from the UAE, India and Europe.” Another long time exhibitor is the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). “Being part of the oil and gas field makes this event a good platform for ADNOC and its companies to present our perspective and experiences on the issues of sustainability,” said Ibrahim Mohamad Al-Marzouqi, Manager, Public Relations for ADNOC.

Schneider Electric displayed its intelligent sustainability portfolio, demonstrating the capacity of the Smart City solutions to reduce power consumption in buildings by up to 30%. Goktug Gur, Country President – UAE, Oman & Pakistan, Schneider Electric, said: “Recognition from the French President during the opening ceremony of the WFES validates our commitment to innovation and lasting

solutions for sustainable development. While Schneider Electric strives to solve today’s complex challenges with the cutting-edge technology of tomorrow, we are driven by a desire to affect meaningful changes in people’s everyday lives.”

GE showcased its advanced concentrated solar panels and Jenbacher gas engines, among other green technologies, at WFES. “Today, there is a stronger focus on promoting clean, renewable and sustainable solutions that reduce the region’s dependency on traditional energy sources,” said Nabil Habayeb, President and CEO, GE Middle East, North Africa & Turkey. “With demand for power and water growing in line with the increase in population and the ongoing infrastructure development, it is important to develop localised solutions that strengthen energy and water use efficiency.”

The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (SCE) pavilion showcased Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) Sustainable Building, the first green building built for the public sector. “The new building has achieved a huge success as the first sustainable building for the public sector to win the Platinum Award for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), achieving 98 points out of 110 as per the US Green Building Council’s assessment,” said H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of the Supreme Council of Energy and MD and CEO of DEWA. “The building sets new standards in sustainability with savings of 66% in electricity usage and 48% in water consumption. The building aims to only use 120 kilowatt hours/m2 per year, which will make it 3.5 times more efficient than conventional buildings. It also includes solar panels with a capacity of 660 kilowatts for generating electricity in conjunction with DEWA’s main power sources.” The SCE stand also showcased the initiatives of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)

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H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy

Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces at

the opening ceremony

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and Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) for conserving energy. ENOC presented its first eco-friendly petrol station in the Middle East. Launched in 2011, the station features green solutions including solar-powered lighting systems and systems for washing cars without water.

IWS highlightsThe inaugural International Water Summit (IWS) with Borouge & Borealis as Principal Sponsor and the Abu Dhabi Electricity & Water Authority (ADWEA) as Strategic Partner, addressed issues such as water scarcity in Arab regions, sustainable growth and economic development in arid regions, the future challenges of water availability, and cross boundary collaboration through international water governance.

H.E. Abdulla Saif Al Nuaimi, Director General of ADWEA said: “We have been part of WFES for the past four years, and this year we are participating in the first edition of IWS. We are glad that there has been a show specially dedicated for water, as it is a significant arising issue not only globally but in the region as well. We are optimistic about meeting our clients, business prospects as well as international players, which can lead to future business opportunities.”

The IWS exhibition area featured 150 exhibitors from 20 countries and saw nearly 35 new product launches. Borouge and Borealis showcased their innovative plastics solutions for infrastructure projects utilising pipes

and geomembranes that significantly improve water efficiency. “The International Water Summit was an important platform for us to showcase our leading innovative pipe solutions for drinking water and sanitation, gas distribution and industrial applications,” said Abdulaziz Alhajri CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge). “The event was an ideal place to exchange best practices and efficient solutions related to water wastage and water sustainability issues and highlight the capabilities of our innovative plastics solutions in contributing to solving these issues.”

Another key exhibitor at IWS was Abu Dhabi’s Regulation & Supervision Bureau (RSB), which introduced its customer-facing offices, Powerwise and Waterwise, at the event as part of a drive to increase consumer awareness of the importance of conservation and sustainability. Nick Carter, Director General, RSB, said: “By combining the introduction of new technologies with incentives for behavioural change and strong awareness campaigns, we believe Abu Dhabi is moving closer to a sustainable water and electricity sector.”

Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) presented the IWS Sustainable Solutions Village, which showcased ideas that have been successfully implemented in water scarce communities across the world to help local populations. H.E. Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Secretary General of EAD, said: “By participating, we have raised awareness about our conservation

efforts and regulatory role and highlighted our vision and guiding principles for the conservation of Abu Dhabi’s groundwater. It is important for us to recognise how by protecting this strategic resource today, we can ensure national security and food security today - and for our future generations.”

At the inaugural session of the IWS, Uschi Eid, Vice Chair UN Secretary Generals Advisory Board on Water, highlighted the importance of policy makers to device a sound water demand management strategy. Eid discussed that while the three T’s (Taxation, Tariff and Transfer) play an important role in giving financial sustainability to operators, the UN is exploring possibilities for water utility companies around the world to have access to local financing market.

Eid said, “Through our research in some countries, we found that a range of water sanitation and utility companies manage to cover the costs of maintenance. However, the revenues they generate are not

ADWEA stand at IWS

GE stand at WFES 2013The ZFEP Large Corporation category prize went to Siemens

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being reinvested in the water sector. In addition, interest rates are high, return periods are short and these utilities are too small to own bonds by themselves.” To resolve this, Eid pointed out that it is important for governments to create conditions to pool together such small and healthy local water utilities and improve access to commercial markets.

Anthony Cox, Head of Division at Environment and Economy Integration, OECD noted that in a broad context, the challenges facing water-poor or water-rich countries are the same, making it important for governments and economic regulators to engage in strategic financial planning that go beyond the three T’s. He said: “Matching political ambition with financial realities is critical to give confidence to both, consumers and water utilities about the sustainability model.” Harry Seah, CTO, Public Utilities, Singapore, observed that key solutions to the water scarcity challenge include

“making conservation as a way of life”, innovation in technology to help use water efficiently and keeping costs affordable, and working with industries towards a sustainable model.

Signing spree Among the high profile announcements at WFES was the signing of a joint declaration between Masdar and France to cooperate on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The agreement was signed by Ms. Delphine Batho, French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, and Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber in the presence of French President Francois Hollande. Potential avenues for collaboration under the Joint Declaration include facilitating the co-development of new commercially viable technologies, exchanging expertise in human capital development, policies and regulations and also joint research in renewable energy projects. Both countries already have strong partnerships in the renewable energy sector. French oil major Total and Masdar have partnered to build Shams 1, the 100 MW CSP project in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, which is the largest solar power project in the Middle East.

Masdar also signed framework agreements with Morocco and Jordan to set the stage for cooperation in the field of renewable energy. Morocco’s target is to achieve 42% of its total power capacity installed from renewable sources by 2020. Fouad Douiri, Morocco’s minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, said: “With tremendous wind and solar resources, Morocco has already strong and concrete achievements in solar and wind capacity, thanks to its experienced local skills and within an attractive legal and regulatory framework. As a country focused on the development of its renewable energy, we see major benefits in building a valuable cooperation with renewable energy players, in particular

with the industry.”The agreement between Masdar and

Jordan has two components. First, it will facilitate competitive tenders for renewable energy projects for Masdar in Jordan. Second, the agreement will create a public-private partnership between the two parties allowing Jordan to consult directly with Masdar on the viability of domestic projects and leverage Masdar’s expertise in the delivery of those projects. With domestic energy production and generation comparatively low, Jordan’s recent move to implement the Middle East’s first feed-in tariff, incentivising domestic growth in renewable energy, is a clear indicator of both its sustainable energy ambitions and its desire to develop more energy at home.

Alaa Batayneh, Jordan’s minister of energy and mineral resources, said: “We recognise Masdar as a regional leader in the adoption and delivery of clean energy, and this agreement will support Jordan as we build a new energy industry, benefiting both our economy and society.”

Side eventsThis year, the Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) saw the introduction of the Global High School Prize category, launched to recognise and encourage young people to incorporate renewable energy and sustainability into their schools. In his opening remarks during the award ceremony, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the Director General of ZFEP noted that the winners have “collectively reduced the plight of 140,000 displaced persons, provided hundreds of thousands of jobs and provided clean water and electricity to over eight million people in villages and rural parts of Africa and Asia.”

The announcements from Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) programme, a key element of WFES and an outreach initiative of Masdar Institute of Science and Technology,

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber,

CEO and MD of Masdar

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber with Alaa Batayneh, Jordanian minister of energy and mineral resources

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stood out for their entrepreneurial vision. Thus, a team of seven Emirati ‘green’ entrepreneurs launched a project to bring clean-energy rice-husk gasifiers to farms and ranches across the UAE, with initial support from the YFEL. Titled ‘Moving toward a Sustainable Environment: Replacing Diesel-based Generators with Eco-friendly Rice-Husk Gasifiers’, the project was inspired by their visit to rural areas in northern India, where villagers were generating electricity through clean, inexpensive rice-husk gasification, rather than diesel-powered generators.

The ‘green’ seven – Mohamed Al-Sharhan, Abdulla Al Shamsi, Iman Ustadi, Ameirah Aldahmani, Jasem Al Hammadi, Walid Shakari, and Sultan Al Awadhi – have selected the Awafi area of Ras Al Khaimah for the first-phase of implementation. This region, which is home to ranches, Ghaf trees and mild weather in winter, will witness the first small-scale pilot project. If the technology and system prove successful, the team will establish a company to install rice-husk gasifier systems in farms and ranches across the UAE. The pilot will provide customers across Awafi with cheap and eco-friendly electricity that meets energy requirements in a way that can replace their current use of diesel generators. With zero emissions, no government formalities, easy operation without the need for technical expertise, lowest-cost electricity and low-cost maintenance, the project supports Abu Dhabi’s move

towards a low-carbon economy in the UAE as outlined in the Vision 2030 plan.

Additionally, a group of 10 members proposed an innovative off-grid solar power project that seeks to bring electricity to healthcare facilities in remote areas of the UAE and sub-Saharan Africa. The proposal envisions three power-generating options, including a self-contained PV system, a hybrid system integrating PV with other available renewable energy, such as biomass, and wind, or a hybrid system using PV combined with a fossil-fuel engine generator. Muna Al Amoodi, Project Leader and a Senior Environment Officer at Dubai Aluminium Company (DUBAL), said: “Through this project, team members wwill be able to implement the principles of advanced energy and sustainability that they have learned about and put them into practice.”

Eventually, one or two hospitals will be identified for the rooftop solar project, and while the focus for this year is hospital facilities, in future, schools and households may be considered.The sixth edition of WFES also saw the launch of the UAE’s first-ever Green Jobs Fair. Hosted by Masdar Institute and jointly sponsored by Mubadala, Masdar, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and HR Source Consultancy, the event sought to connect job seekers with potential employers with seminars across diverse themes including CV advice, what to expect from the current renewable energy job market and market perspectives.

The International Desalination Association (IDA) convened the first meeting of its global Energy Task force in conjunction with the IWS. The goal of IDA’s Energy Task Force is to achieve a 20% reduction in energy consumption in all major seawater desalination processes by 2015. The agenda for the Task Force’s meeting was to create a framework that will encourage and promote strategies to further enhance energy efficiency in desalination processes. Leon Awerbuch, Co-chair of the IDA Energy Task Force Committee and moderator of the Task Force meeting said: “The group discussed many examples and explored suggested directions in energy improvements. We also established preliminary agreement on the theoretical minimum energy requirements of desalination, so we can gauge our goal.”

The Project & Finance Village at WFES displayed 30 renewable energy projects, cumulatively valued over USD8 billion. Almost half of the total

Delegates at the Young Future Energy Leaders (YFEL) Programme

The Masdar pavilion

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projects were solar-related, ranging from Micc Greentec’s USD300,000 250KW solar project in the UAE up to the USD300 million 65-130MW project by Jordan’s Kawar Energy. ACWA Power, returning to the Project & Finance Village for the third year, exhibited the biggest project – a 160MW Concentrated Solar Plant (CSP) in Morocco, worth over USD1 billion. Also on display were wind, geothermal, hydro and PV projects worth up to USD400 million.

IWS Project Stream, run in association with Global Water Intelligence (GWI), aimed to bring together buyers and sellers from the international water community to explore beneficial synergies, establish partnerships and take advantage of the dedicated networking facility. Peter McConnell, Show Director for the IWS said: “These projects range from multi-billion dollar government infrastructure ventures to high-tech innovations in areas such as low-energy desalination, water leakage prevention and water efficiency which will all contribute in a significant way to addressing the worldwide challenges surrounding clean water supply.”

Solar PV power in harmony with natureA key conclusion of the report ‘Solar PV Atlas: solar power in harmony with nature,’ released on the sidelines of the WFES is that even if all electricity is to be generated through renewable energy (RE) sources, and with solar photovoltaics (PV) alone, it would take up only an insignificant amount of total land area, contrary to common perception. The report, released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows through seven cases - six countries and one region – that less than one per cent of the total land mass would be required to meet 100% of projected electricity demand in 2050 if generating electricity only with solar PV. WWF teamed up with First Solar, 3TIER and Fresh Generation to develop the report. It looks at Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Turkey, and the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The report also illustrates that PV technology, when well-planned, does not conflict with conservation goals and clarifies that no country or region must choose between solar PV and space for humans and nature. The new report supports WWF’s vision of 100% RE

by 2050. “We are actively promoting investments and measures in Renewable Energy technologies that help to make this happen,” said Jean-Philippe Denruyter, WWF’s manager Global Renewable Energy Policy.

Borouge stand at IWS

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ADSW IN NuMbERS• 150 countries• 140 official delegations• 3,200 delegates• 20% increase in pre-registered visitor

numbers• 10% increase in exhibitors• 70 product launches (20 more than

last year).• New features launched: Technology Exchange Platform, the Green Ideas Fair, the Green Jobs Fair; Sustainable Living area• 70% of space rebooked for the seventh edition of WFES in January 2014

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Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber with Fouad Douiri, Morocco’s Minister of Energy and Mine and Water

Mock up of DEWA’s new Sustainable Building

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The French President at the Masdar stand

THE ZAYED FUTURE ENERGY PRIZE The Zayed Future Energy Prize is a USD 4 million prize awarded annually to companies, schools and individuals that have made significant contributions to the future of energy, sustainability and climate change. The Prize was awarded in five distinct categories: Large Corporation, Life Achievement, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME), Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and the newly-introduced Global High Schools Prize.

Siemens, the German multinational electronics and engineering company, was recognised in the Large Corporation category for its holistic and long-term approach to alternative energy and sustainability.

In the Small Medium Enterprise category, US-based d.light design was awarded USD1.5 million for its pioneering solar-powered lighting solutions, which the company manufactures and distributes to the developing world.

Ceres, a US-based non-profit enterprise, was awarded USD1.5 million as winner of the Non-Governmental Organisation prize category. The organisation was honoured for its work on clean-energy advocacy and encouraging companies to reduce their carbon emissions.

Dr Jose Goldemberg, professor of physics at the University of Sao Paulo and former Brazilian minister of environment, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award and a cash prize of USD500,000. A profound voice and

environmental leader, Dr. Goldemberg’s achievements include introducing the Brazilian Energy Initiative, which called for 10% share of renewable energy worldwide by 2010, and co-authoring one of the first papers on the energy life-cycle analysis of sugarcane ethanol. He also coined the idea of ‘technology leapfrogging’ in economic development.

This year also saw the introduction of the Global High School Prize category, launched to recognise and encourage young people to incorporate renewable energy and sustainability into their schools. Schools from four regions were honoured with USD100,000 each as funding for their proposed sustainability projects.

Representing the Americas region, Secundaria Tecnica 120 School from Cuernavaca, Mexico was selected for its project to upgrade the school’s water, power and heating supply to use renewable sources, including a biogas digester and solar panels. From Europe, Okehampton College, in the UK, was honoured for its plan to become energy independent by installing two wind turbines and a biomass heating unit. From Tanzania, Africa, Kirya Secondary School was chosen for its project involving wind, solar and biogas plants and sustainable learning centres. From the Asian region, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia School, based in Abu Dhabi, was selected for its project to become carbon neutral through efficient cooling systems, solar panels and solar batteries.

ENERGY AND SECURITY TASK FORCEA new task force to focus on the impact of energy on security and to examine ways of forestalling energy-related conflict was launched by the International Peace Institute (IPI), a policy research think tank based in New York and Vienna, and Masdar. The purpose of the task force is to examine the linkage between energy and security and to strengthen multi-lateral mechanisms to promote cooperation and to prevent and defuse energy-related conflict.

Energy should be a motor for development and cooperation, not a source of conflict,” said Terje Roed-Larsen, the president of IPI. He cited tensions in Northern Iraq, Southern Sudan, the Niger Delta and the East Mediterranean as examples of how competition for energy resources can cause instability.

The task force secretariat will be based in Vienna, Austria – a key hub for energy security including the headquarters of IAEA, OPEC, UNIDO, and the new office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Kandeh Yumkella.

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Wake-up call to policy makersIRENA fINDS THAT RENEwABLE ENERGy SECTOR HAS ENTERED INTO A NEw VIRTuOuS CyCLE Of fALLING COSTS, INCREASING DEPLOyMENT, AND ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS.

Renewable Energy

Dramatic recent and projected falls in the costs of renewable energy are making it competitive with

fossil fuels in countries across the world, and the least cost option in a growing number of markets. For example, solar energy has already become cheaper than diesel generation, with clear benefits for communities which live in areas far away from the electricity grid.

The public debate around renewable energy, however, continues to suffer from an outdated perception that renewable energy is not competitive, forming a significant and unnecessary barrier to its deployment.

Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2012: An Overview, launched during the IRENA annual Assembly and at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, claims to provide a current, comprehensive analysis of the costs and performance of renewable power generation today. Its analysis of 8,000 medium- to large-scale renewable power generation projects reveals that renewables are fast becoming the most competitive option for new electricity grid supply and swift grid extension, and are already the default economic solution for off-grid power supply.

“The past two years have seen a remarkable increase in the competitiveness of renewable energy,” says Adnan Amin, IRENA Director General. “2012 was the year when renewables came of age – able to compete with other power generation technologies, and increasingly without subsidies. It is time for the public debate to reflect this changing reality.”

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Renewable Energy

Key findings include:• Renewables account for almost half of new electricity capacity installed and costs are continuing to fall. The rapid deployment of renewables, working in combination with high learning rates, has produced a virtuous circle that is leading to significant cost declines and helping to fuel a renewable revolution. In 2011, additions included 41 GW of new wind power capacity, 30 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV), 25 GW of hydropower, 6 GW of biomass, 0.5 GW of concentrated solar power (CSP) and 0.1 GW of geothermal power.• The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) is declining for wind, solar PV, CSP and some biomass technologies, while hydropower and geothermal electricity produced at good sites are still the cheapest way to generate electricity. Renewable technologies are now the most economic solution for new capacity in an increasing number of countries and regions. Where oil-fired generation is the predominant power generation source (example: on islands, off-grid and in some countries) a lower cost renewable solution almost always exists. Renewables are also increasingly the most economic solution for new grid-connected capacity where good

resources are available. As the cost of renewable power drops, the scope of economically viable applications will increase even further.• The rapid growth in the deployment of solar and wind is driving a convergence in electricity generation costs. When excellent local resources are available, mature technologies, such as biomass, geothermal and hydropower, can all produce electricity at very competitive costs, although in limited quantities. As the deployment of wind and solar has increased, we are seeing a reduction in the costs of wind and solar technologies and a convergence in the LCOE of renewable technologies at low levels. This will continue in the short- to medium-term given the current manufacturing overcapacity for wind and solar PV.• Further equipment cost reductions can be expected to 2020, which will lower the weighted average LCOE of renewables. The rate of decline to 2020 for solar PV is likely to be slower than in recent years, but wind and CSP may see acceleration. Hydropower, geothermal and most biomass combustion technologies are mature and their cost reduction potentials are not large.

• Rapid cost reductions in renewable power generation technologies means that up-to-date data are required to evaluate support policies for renewables, while a dynamic analysis of the costs of renewables is needed to decide on the level of support. There is insufficient publicly available data to allow policy makers to make robust decisions about the role of renewable power generation. IRENA’s cost analysis programme and this report are designed to help reduce this barrier to the accelerated deployment of renewables. Although the IRENA Renewable Cost Database contains close to 8,000 projects, this is a small proportion of the total number of projects installed or in development. Much more work therefore needs to be done to collect real project data in order to analyse emerging trends and the challenges facing renewables.

IRENA is launching the Renewable Costing Alliance to raise awareness of falling costs, and to collect more data. It will bring together government agencies, financial institutions, equipment manufacturers, project developers, utilities and research institutions.

Source: IRENALcoe ranges and weighted averages for renewable power generation technologies

38 FEBRUARY 2013

39FEBRUARY 2013

Building EfficienciesDESIGNERS AND MANAGERS OF COMMERCIAl BUIlDINGS ARE FACING EVER-INCREASING DEMANDS TO IMPROVE ThE ENERGy AND WATER EFFICIENCy OF ThEIR BUIlDINGS. ThIS ARTIClE FROM XylEM lOOKS AT KEy COST VERSUS BENEFIT OF A SySTEMS APPROACh TO DESIGNING, INSTAllING AND OPERATING ElECTRICAl, MEChANICAl, PlUMBING AND OThER BUIlDING COMPONENTS.

the economic, environmental and social impacts their facilities have on the people who use them and the communities where they are located.

Leading the way are American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) building energy codes that are rapidly and dramatically changing the energy and water efficiency landscape for commercial buildings. In the US, the federal government has required that states adopt ASHRAE code 90.1-2010 – the latest version of its energy standards for new and substantially renovated commercial buildings – as their mandatory building energy codes by no later than October 18, 2013 (though individual states may apply for and receive an extension).

New and substantially renovated federal buildings must currently comply with ASHRAE 90.1-2007 – the previous version of the code. But adoption of the newer 90.1-2010 at some point appears certain as the federal government pushes toward a 100% reduction in energy usage in its buildings by 2030.

In general, 90.1-2010 aims to increase the overall energy efficiency

of commercial buildings by roughly 18% over previous standards. It also sets higher efficiency requirements for individual components of a building’s HVAC system, including air conditioners, heat pumps, chillers, furnaces, boilers, heat exchangers and other components.

ASHRAE 189.1-2011 sets the bar even higher for greening commercial buildings. Developed by ASHRAE in collaboration with the Illuminating Engineering Society of America (IES) and United States Green Building Council (USGBC) – creators of the LEED green building rating system – 189.1-2011 is appropriately called the Standard for the design of High-Performance Green Buildings.

This standard requires aggressive improvements in:• SiteSustainability• WaterUseEfficiency• EnergyEfficiency• IndoorEnvironmentalQuality• BuildingImpactonAtmosphere,Materials and Resources• Construction and Plans for Operation

Designers and managers of commercial buildings face ever-increasing demands to improve

the energy and water efficiency of their buildings:• Buildingcodescontinuetoraiseefficiencystandardsfornewandexistingbuildings• Economicconditionspressureorganisationstocutenergycostswhereverpossible• Corporatesustainabilityinitiativesrequiresteadyefficiencyimprovementstoachieveresults

To compound matters, the complexity of buildings and building systems continues to rise, making effective solutions harder to design, install and operate. In response, architects and specifiers of new commercial buildings, and facility managers of existing ones, are increasingly adopting a new approach: a systems approach to energy and water efficiency improvements.

Building codes drive changesGreen building codes and standards

are driving commercial building owners to operate their buildings more sustainably – taking into account

Built Environment

40 FEBRUARY 2013

Built Environment

Water use efficiency standards contained in 189.1-2011 require reduced water use for landscaping, minimum efficiency standards for plumbing fixtures and appliances, more efficient cooling towers, better water use monitoring and other improvements.

Similarly, energy efficiency standards require additional reductions in energy usage beyond what was achieved through 90.1-2010 compliance, improved energy usage monitoring, readiness for renewable energy and other measures.

In 2010, the US Army adopted 189.1-2011 as its standard for all new and renovated buildings. The U.S. Department of Defence is conducting a cost-benefit analysis of 189.1-2011 to help determine if it should adopt the standard department-wide.

So while 189.1-2011 establishes a standard for green building construction today, it appears likely that as the drive towards net zero energy buildings continues, it may be adopted soon as a mandatory building code by federal, state and local governments.

Other significant driversIn addition to compliance with

existing and emerging building codes, commercial building designers and managers are under continuous pressure to control energy and water costs, and to help achieve corporate sustainability goals.

According to the 2012 Energy Efficiency Indicator – a survey of nearly 3,500 building owners and managers from around the world conducted by the Institute for Building Efficiency – energy cost savings are the number one factor driving decisions related to energy efficiency improvements.

In the same survey, 80% of respondents in the industrial sector, and 72% in the commercial sector, reported setting goals for reductions in energy usage. Similarly, 72% of industrial sector respondents and 63% of those in the commercial sector say their organisations have set goals for reducing their carbon emissions.

The desire to conform to emerging

green building codes and standards – coupled with a continual focus on cutting costs, reducing energy usage and shrinking carbon footprints – is driving the urgent pursuit of greater energy and water efficiency in commercial buildings.

A system approachCommercial buildings are

composed of many individual components – the building envelope and internal structures, along with electrical, mechanical, plumbing and lighting components, and countless other elements that turn structures into comfortable and productive offices and factories, hotels and hospitals, schools and retail stores, and other facilities that are used in an endless variety of ways by businesses, governments and other organisations.

The components in just a commercial building’s HVAC system can include boilers, chillers, cooling towers, pumps, drives, valves, heat exchangers and other economisers, heat pumps, solar panels, fans, temperature and pressure regulators, automated building management systems in most larger facilities, and a host of other components.

A traditional “lowest first cost” or “contract compliance” approach to specifying and procuring these components is unlikely to produce the best long-term operating results for the building owner and occupants – whether in the design and construction of new buildings, or in the replacement of equipment in existing buildings.

A HVAC system composed of even the highest-efficiency components will still only enjoy the efficiency gains of the individual components if they are not designed, installed and operated as a system.

For example: if a high-efficiency pump is feeding water to a boiler at a rate that is faster than the boiler can use it, the pump and its accompanying drive are needlessly overworking, shortening their life expectancy, using energy inefficiently, and creating unnecessarily

41

Built Environment

high pressure on piping, valves and other components, potentially shortening their life expectancy as well.

A designer or facilities manager taking a systems approach to this challenge would consider installing a variable frequency drive to operate the pump at the optimal speed to deliver the right flow of water to the boiler based on its precise needs at any given moment, maximising the efficiency of both pump and boiler while minimising unnecessary wear and tear on the individual components.

Applying this approach to all components in an HVAC system – new or existing – optimises the lifecycle efficiency and cost savings for the entire building and its equipment.

Where energy and water meetTo maximise energy and water efficiency, it’s also critically important for commercial building designers and managers to ensure they’re applying a systems approach to the points where energy and water intersect in their facilities.

Creating and sustaining comfortable and productive environments in commercial buildings requires both energy and water. Boilers, chillers, cooling towers, air conditioners, pumps, drives, solar collectors, geothermal heat pumps and other system components consume energy to condition, heat, cool and move water throughout a commercial building to provide heating and air conditioning, generate electricity through geothermal and solar systems, and deliver water wherever it’s needed for a variety of uses.

As a result, gains in energy efficiency also generate improvements in water efficiency – and vice versa – helping reduce a building’s lifecycle costs and boost its performance.

Controlled successAutomated building management

systems (BMS) common in larger structures also multiply the positive impacts of a systems approach to improving energy and water efficiency in commercial buildings.

These complex BMS systems enable facilities managers to operate buildings to maintain a comfortable environment, while closely monitoring the performance of the individual mechanical, electrical, plumbing and other components that must work together to achieve that goal.

If those individual components are designed, installed and operated to function as a system – and if they all communicate effectively with the BMS – energy and water efficiency can be maximised, predictive maintenance can be performed to extend the life expectancy of equipment, and operating and maintenance costs can be more effectively managed.

Less risk, more comfortFor commercial building designers,

a systems approach to designing, installing and operating electrical, mechanical, plumbing and other building components reduces considerable risks involved in their work.

These systems are often designed to ensure they will meet peak demands. But since buildings operate at peak demand for only a small percentage of the time, boilers, chillers, cooling towers, and other components are underutilised most of the time.

This has a number of consequences – all of them negative:• Energyandwaterefficiencydecline• Equipmentbreaksdownsooner• Operatingandmaintenancecostsincrease• Occupantcomfortiscompromised

Another worry for commercial building designers is the risk that components cobbled together on the basis of “lowest first cost” will not deliver the performance and efficiency gains promised.

When a systems approach is taken, these risks virtually disappear:• Energyandwaterefficiencyaremaximised• Thelifeexpectancyofequipmentisextended

• Operatingandmaintenancecostsarelowered• Thebuilding’sperformancesatisfiesoccupantsandbuildingowners

Additionally, viewing building components as a system – rather than as individual pieces – simplifies design, procurement, installation, operation and maintenance.

A clear futureCommercial buildings use nearly

one-fifth of the energy consumed in the US. An estimated 30% of that energy is wasted.

Through mandatory building codes and voluntary standards, governments at all levels are increasingly driving commercial building owners to improve the energy and water efficiency of their structures. Cost savings and reductions in environmental impacts are also creating strong incentives for advances in commercial building efficiency.

As a result, the “lowest first cost” approach to procuring building components is disappearing, because it does not deliver the efficiency gains and cost savings. Increasingly, a systems approach is being adopted to the design, procurement, installation, operation and maintenance of building components, because it helps achieve compliance with existing and emergency building codes, maximise energy and water efficiency in their structures, and help them meet corporate sustainability goals while creating comfortable and productive building environments.

Architects and specifiers for new commercial buildings – as well as owners and facility managers of existing ones - who adopt this systems approach now will begin to reap the benefits of these lifecycle performance improvements sooner rather than later.

(Courtesy: Xylem Applied Water Systems’ white paper, ‘A Systems Approach to Energy and Water Efficiency in Commercial Buildings.’ The whitepaper can be downloaded from www.bitly.com/XylemSystemsWhitePaper)

42 FEBRUARY 2013

G lobalisation has blurred commercial boundaries. In a European Commission 2007

report, between 1995 and 2005, world chemical production increased by almost 40%. However, over 95% of that growth was concentrated in developing countries. This trend we are seeing is opening up new opportunities in emerging markets, such as the Middle East. So, time is of the essence. Every minute saved in on-time deliveries adds dollars to the bottom line. Maintaining a focus on supply chain management will help companies meet customer demands and regulatory requirements and keep ahead of the fast-moving industry trend.

From a chemical and polymers perspective, we are seeing a growing level of naphtha cracking with the objective of generating olefin feed stocks and downstream derivatives. The Sadara joint venture is currently constructing a new USD20 billion petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia.

ROB hOWARD, ASPENTECh’S SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS CONSUlTING FOR ThE MIDDlE EAST AND NORTh AFRICA (MENA) ANAlySES ThE PETROChEMICAl INDUSTRy TRENDS IN ThE REGION.

In the UAE, expansion can be seen with a new a refinery expansion at Ruwais to add 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity. These large sites are increasingly taking market share away from established OECD countries. Furthermore, these refineries are often complex operations. They make high specification products that are then widely exported and sold for premium prices.

There are also many revamps of existing plants taking place, some of which are in response to more stringent gasoline, diesel and sulphur regulations. In petrochemicals, the Middle East is also becoming a higher value producer of products. Plant operators are introducing more differentiated, higher value polymers. For instance, in the last couple of years we have seen the first manufacturing of polycarbonates and related specialty polymers emerge in Saudi Arabia. In addition, countries such as Saudi Arabia are finding it difficult to secure new ethane for their

Oil & Gas

Europe’s loss, Middle East’s gain

Rob Howard

43FEBRUARY 2013

petrochemical plants. So, increasingly new plants are switching instead to cracking products like propane, butane and naphtha and generating more diversified olefins as by-products to make different kinds of polymers for end users.

In 2012, the price of ethane in Saudi Arabia legislated at 75 cents per million British Thermal Units (BTUs). Historically, ethane prices in Western Europe and the United States have been around ten times this figure. Recently in the US, however, due to the shale gas explosion, prices have fallen to around USD3 per million BTUs. This means that for the first time in almost a generation, US crackers are becoming competitive with those in the Middle East. As a result, there is a growing need for Middle East operators to ensure that their integrated petrochemical complexes are flexible in what feeds they can process. With the right planning, scheduling and operational systems in place they can use these different feed-stocks

IN A NUTSHELL

• The Sadara joint venture is currently constructing a new USD20 billion petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia.

• In the UAE, growth can be seen with a new a refinery expansion at Ruwais to add 400,000 barrel per day (bpd) capacity.

• These large sites are increasingly taking market share away from established OECD countries.

in an optimum way, thereby helping drive margin improvement potential. For example, many companies have adopted AspenTech’s Aspen PIMS to optimise crude selection and Aspen Petroleum Scheduler to create feasible, economical refinery plans. The end result is minimised supply chain upsets, improved yield of more valuable products, increased manufacturing efficiency and reduced margin leakage.

Investment and integration equals opportunity

It has been predicted that Ethylene production in the Middle East and Asia will continue to expand and the annual growth rate will diminish in Western Europe. Middle Eastern producers are starting to exploit their feedstock advantages and this will drive the expansion of the chemical sector. New cracker capacity being constructed in these regions is in much larger and more technically advanced plants that can achieve significantly lower unit costs than

Oil & Gas

their aging European counterparts.Refiners have to overcome a host

of challenges from cultural issues around silo mentality to logistical concerns including location and the cost of inventory to issues with skills shortages. Process industry software technology is playing an important role to help tackle these problems. Equipped with latest software tools, refiners can meet demand and use applications as a basis to launch a more transaction-oriented and commercially astute approach to their business operations. For Middle East companies, integrating the overall business processes from planning through to scheduling and execution can achieve significant improvements in performance with payback in months. The region is well placed to capitalise upon market opportunities that exist today. The short-term return is technological innovation and commercial growth – the long-term reward will be a thriving talent pipeline and an improved competitive infrastructure.

44 FEBRUARY 2013

Water

wIRELESS fOR wATERMANAGEMENTThe Island of Guernsey networked 40 facilities ranging from pumping stations to water treatment works using radio links

T he island of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency, located in the English Channel, about 30

miles from the north coast of France and 70 miles from the south coast of England. Guernsey Water has deployed a wireless communication network, based on IEEE 802.11n standard, to integrate 40 facilities into a single network. These range from pumping stations and water treatment works to land and office buildings.

Generally speaking, wireless networks offer many advantages for a wide range of applications. In this case, the main benefit was to ease the interconnection of remote sites. This is the type of challenging project faced by Guernsey

Water, the company responsible for delivering high-quality drinking water for Islanders (www.water.gg). In addition, Guernsey Water aims to provide a high level of customer service; therefore, an efficient communication network is a key requirement. Remote sites used to be connected through the telephone network to the infrastructure. For a new site, no line was available. Instead of adding a new cabled line, the radio option was considered; two RadioLinx radios were installed on a pilot site for tests and evaluation by Boulting Group. A year later, based on the positive feedback from engineering, installation and operation teams and having a need for revamping its SCADA

network, Guernsey Water decided to deploy a wide network to cover the whole Island.

The benefits of wireless became evident very shortly, since installing a pair of radios is much faster than a new phone line, which requires additional engineering work. In addition, the wireless links have revealed high reliability, no communication losses, and higher bandwidth despite the weather conditions on the Island. The technology has enabled more efficient remote control over the remote sites. Also, the cost of the pair of radios fell within the range of the fixed phone line rental fee for one year – and both the better quality and higher speed of the

45FEBRUARY 2013

Water

The coexistence of multiple networks is guaranteed by means of a combination of 2.4 + 5 GHz bands that offers 3 + 19 non-overlapping channels.

communication network allow a better quality of service to the user.

ProSoft Technology deployed its RadioLinx 802.11n industrial radios in the Guernsey project. These high-technology products support high-capacity networks, including those in interference-prone locations – typically indoor applications – as they can

operate with MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) technology antennas. The coexistence of multiple networks is guaranteed by means of a combination of 2.4 + 5 GHz bands that offers 3 + 19 non-overlapping channels. They also feature a very high signal sensitivity and range, and come as a single-radio or dual-radio Industrial Hotspot, or single-radio Industrial Client.

In the Guernsey project in particular, 19 Industrial Hotspots have been installed; two units for the pilot project plus 17 units (mixing single and dual radios) for the second phase. Some key industrial features of these products are their hazardous location certifications (UL1604 Class I Div 2, ATEX Zone 2 Cat 3), their extended operating temperature range, high vibration and shock resistance, DIN-rail mounting, PoE (Power over Ethernet) and simultaneous client or master/repeater Industrial Hotspot mode. RadioLinx industrial radios configured and monitored with the RadioLinx Wireless N Discovery Tool, a software tool which allows viewing of the network topology, assigning IP addresses to radios for configuration, as well as monitoring network diagnostics, updating radio firmware

and detecting any 802.11 radios on the network. Automatic or manual network configuration is user selectable (it can be prioritised or fixed) with self-healing functionality and master redundancy for reliable large networks.

Boulting Group was involved in this project as system integrator. “Technology was new for both Boulting Group and for Guernsey Water but installation was a success,” said Jonathan Green, Automation Manager at Boulting Integrated Systems. “Not only has it been possible to create a link in a short time, but this link is more reliable and better-performing than previous communication solutions.”

“Implementing the pilot went very smoothly,” said Dave Amps, Automation Sales Manager at Routeco, distributing both ProSoft Technology and Rockwell Automation in the UK. “Backed-up with support from ProSoft Technology’s experts, Boulting was provided with the needed support from study to on-field validation and operation. At Routeco, we knew that we could rely on the high quality of the products and on the support we get from ProSoft Technology, a company we have been cooperating for more than 20 years.”

46 FEBRUARY 2013

TEST & MEASUREMENT

TESTING POwER TRANSfORMERS SAfELyDiego Robalino PhD, Lead Applications Engineer, Megger summarises safety tips and literature references useful for performing transformer tests in the field.

E veryone who works with electricity is aware of the importance of power

transformers within the electrical infrastructure. Power is usually generated in remote locations and from there it has to be transmitted and distributed to consumers, satisfying well-defined standards for quality and efficiency. And, of course, the operation of the system must be safe and reliable. A major problem that electrical utilities often encounter is managing system losses arising from energy conversion processes, such as the use of power transformers, and from transmission and distribution.

In order to ensure safe and reliable operation, testing and maintenance of electrical equipment in substations is carried out by professionals who are responsible and accountable for providing accurate assessment of the condition of these assets. Power transformers are critical and cannot always be made available for condition assessment. Availability of power transformers is decreasing due to load growth, and some users are able to put transformers on test only after extremely careful planning.

This article won’t get too specific about every test mentioned but it does contain relevant safety tips and literature references that will be useful when performing transformer tests in

the field. Creating hazard awareness while performing a specific test and faithfully following safety program guidelines and relevant standards are key elements of power transformer testing practice.

testing intentionsWhy is this transformer being tested?

A power transformer is tested upon completion of all assembly activities in factory, as part of the commissioning process during installation, within the scope of a periodical and scheduled maintenance program, after system failure and any time its condition needs to be assessed. An important factor that needs to be considered is the applicable standards.

For factory tests, reference can be made to the IEEE Standard General Requirements for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers (C57. 12.00) and to the IEEE Standard Test Code for Liquid-Immersed Distribution, Power, and Regulating Transformers and Guide for Short-Circuit Testing (C57.12.90). For field electrical tests, reference can be made to IEEE 62-1995 (R2005): IEEE Guide for Diagnostic Field Testing of Electric Power Apparatus- Part 1 - Oil Filled Power Transformers, Regulators, and Reactors; and, IEEE C57.93-2007: Guide for Installation and Maintenance of Liquid-Immersed

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TEST & MEASUREMENT

Power Transformers. These guides and standards are published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Also, routine investigation of insulation properties is also important; reference for this practice can be found in Section 10 of the ASTM standards, which is published by the standards organisation, ASTM International. Testing practices are also well described in the International Standard IEC 60076-Part 1 (General, specific clause 10); and Part 3 for testing of the dielectric system. This international standard is published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

responsibility for SafetyWho will be in charge of testing the transformer?

It is important to emphasise the hazards involved in high-voltage and high-current testing, and the potential consequences of not being properly trained in operating electrical test equipment. Recommendations that should be followed are contained in NFPA 70E (section 205.1, which outlines a ‘qualified person’ suitable for working on electrical equipment). NFPA 70E, ‘Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace’ is published by the U.S. trade association, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

With a similar approach, section 3.2.1 of the NETA Standard for Acceptance Testing Specifications (NETA ATS-2009) requires electrical tests and inspections to be carried ut by trained and experienced technicians who will be capable of conducting the tests in a safe manner and with complete knowledge of the hazards involved. The NETA standards are published by the standards organisation International Electrical Testing Association (NETA).

Certification and CalibrationIscalibratedandcertifiedequipmentavailable to run the tests?

Even though this question sounds like common sense, asset owners don’t always request a calibration certificate for the equipment that will be used to carry out the tests. Test equipment

calibration guidelines are given in NETA ATS 2009, section 5.3.

Summarising these guidelines, the test company must calibrate the field instrumentation annually. Accuracy of the calibration shall be directly traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Personal protective equipmentWhat about personal protective equipment(PPE)?

Personal protective equipment must be worn. Imagine one of your colleagues falling from a height because of not having a harness, or injuring their hands or - even worse - no longer being able to work as the result of an electric shock. Perform inspection and testing of protective equipment and protective tools on a regular basis. The relevant standard is NFPA 70E, article 250.

Visual inspectionsWhy is a visual inspection needed on site?

The tests will be performed on a unit that is offline, but it is usually only this unit that is offline; all other electrical apparatus in the substation is energised and is a source of electric and magnetic fields. While the offline unit is being tested, lockout/tagout procedures must be followed. The OSHA standard for The Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout), Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1910.147, addresses the practices and procedures necessary to disable machinery or equipment, thereby preventing the release of hazardous energy while employees perform servicing and maintenance activities.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a US federal agency that regulates workplace

health and safety and publishes a variety of standards, including ones specific to the electrical industry. The OSHA standard outlines measures for controlling hazardous energies - electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal and other energy sources. When the environment has been made safe for testing the transformer, it’s time to look at the recommendations provided by the NETA ATS 2009 7.2.2.1 standard for visual and mechanical inspection of liquid-filled transformers. Remember that ATS is for acceptance testing and some steps might be skipped during routine testing. Things that must always be done are: check the nameplate information, carry out a grounding inspection, verify the presence of PCB content labelling, verify all connection points to testing equipment are clean, verify liquid level in tanks and bushings, verify operation of tap changers, as well as the operation and accuracy of temperature gauges.

Starting the jobWhere to start?

This is a very common question. Is there a sequence recommended in any standard that can simply be followed? The answer is no. The technician in charge of the electrical tests should avoid any possible remaining magnetisation of the core and residual charges in the insulation. It’s good practice to discharge and demagnetise the unit before testing. A through fault, line transients or any other switching operation will leave residual magnetism in the transformer core that may affect the results of the tests (as described in the IEEE 62 6.1.3.4 standard), especially when performing excitation current tests (low voltage or high voltage) and sweep frequency response analysis (SFRA) in open circuit configuration. IEEE 62, in section 6.1.3.5, describes the recommended methods

‘It’s good practice to discharge and

demagnetise the unit before testing’

48 FEBRUARY 2013

for demagnetisation, and considers a more convenient method to neutralise the magnetic alignment of the core by applying a direct voltage of alternate polarities to the transformer for decreasing intervals. If the transformer has been in operation, leave the unit for at least couple of hours to cool down. Work with a winding or top-oil temperature close to ambient temperature, as the thermal dynamics are much slower and correction factors are more reliable.

let’s Start testing!First of all, ensure you feel

comfortable with the operation and hook-up of the testing instrumentation and you have a user guide to hand. Perform alternating current (ac) testing that will not affect the core’s magnetisation. You can follow the recommended tests presented in IEEE 62 (see Diagnostic Test Chart) and test each component of the transformer: windings, core, insulation, bushings and tap changers. For all tests, ensure you have a good grounding connection, and the transformer and the testing equipment in the same grounding loop. If you are performing high-voltage testing, familiarise yourself with IEEE 4 Standard for High-Voltage Testing published by the IEEE.

Electrical TestsTurn ratio test

Remember, you are applying a low voltage signal. You are recommended

to apply this signal to the high-voltage winding and use the measuring equipment to collect data from the low-voltage winding. If you must test the transformer from the low-voltage side, use the lowest available voltage. The voltage will be multiplied by a factor equivalent to:

Winding resistance test The test is normally performed on

each winding separately. Start from the high-voltage side and then continue with the low-voltage side. Disconnection of the leads during current injection while performing the test may result in a high-energy discharge. Ensure you discharge and demagnetise the transformer after running a direct-current (dc) winding resistance test. For large YΔ configured transformers, perform the test with the simultaneous winding magnetisation technique. In this case, inject the test current through high-voltage and low-voltage windings simultaneously to shorten the measurement time.

Dissipationfactor(tan)testThis kind of testing involves dealing

with high-voltage equipment. Be sure your testing equipment is properly grounded and safely connected to the transformer. Because your transformer is not ideal and neither are the substation conditions, you will encounter electro-magnetic interference (EMI) at different levels and of different types (ac or dc) from

various sources, creating electrical noise that needs to be suppressed by the testing equipment, which is one of the reasons why tan testing is performed at high voltages. You must consider the temperature of the insulation system, as a correction factor should be applied to normalise the results to a 20°C base, using either a table of correction factors or an individual temperature correction factor determined by using sweep frequency technology. Moreover, ensure that you verify the condition of the bushings; they should be clean and dry. This will avoid the flow of leakage currents on the surface of the porcelain. Also, ensure your high-voltage lead and measurement leads are not touching a grounding point because this would trip the unit or give negative power factor values.

ExcitationcurrenttestNormally, this test is only performed

on the high-voltage side of the transformer. You have a choice of two instruments for performing excitation current tests: a transformer turn ratio (TTR) instrument or a dissipation factor test set. The big difference is the test voltage applied to excite the transformer. Never compare absolute numbers for a test performed at 100 volts with a test at 10 kilovolts. The results are very different. This may be a high-voltage test, so be sure to follow the operating instructions provided by the manufacturer for safe operation and good quality results.

Short circuit impedance testBear in mind that when you short

circuit the secondary winding, a high current flow can be expected between the short-circuited terminals. Therefore,

‘Make sure your testing equipment

is properly grounded and

safely connected to the transformer’

TEST & MEASUREMENT

49FEBRUARY 2013

use jumper cables of at least #1 AWG (American wire gage) or 50 mm2 cross sectional area otherwise you may end up melting the jumper cables during the test

Insulation resistance testThe life of a transformer is limited by

the life of its insulation system. If you are confident about the condition of the insulation, then you can expect that the unit will provide many more years of service. You should discharge the transformer before and after the test so no residual charges will affect the personnel testing the unit or working on connection/disconnection. Be aware of possible leakage currents flowing on the surface of bushings and use the insulation resistance test set guard lead to minimise the effect of these currents on your results.

SFRA testThis new technique impresses

many transformer manufacturers and transformer operators because of its ability to detect various faults in a single test. The test is straightforward, but following existing standards and procedures to ensure repeatability is essential. The test is sensitive to connections and set-up and you should be aware of the internal noise in your testing device. The transfer function of many transformers will

reach a magnitude value close to -90 dB and sometimes down to -100 dB and, therefore, your instrumentation should have a wide dynamic range capable to record these transfer function magnitudes. Grounding practices are critical. The CIGRE 342 (2008): ‘Mechanical Condition Assessment of Transformer Windings Using Frequency Response Analysis’ document, published by members of the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRE), describes in section 2.4.1.2 on how to use adjustable extension leads. It must be emphasised that residual magnetisation in the core will affect “open circuit”

readings. Therefore, de-magnetise the transformer before performing SFRA tests. More detailed instructions are listed in CIGRE 342 section 2.4.8.

The IEEE Transformer Committee is intensively working to make a Frequency Response Analysis Guide available. So far, the work is being compiled in the document IEEE PC57.149/D8 ‘Draft Trial-Use Guide for the Application and Interpretation of Frequency Response Analysis for Oil Immersed Transformers’.

DFR TestDielectric Frequency Response (DFR)

Test Insulation diagnostic testing using Dielectric Frequency Response (DFR) or, as it is also called, Frequency Domain Spectroscopy (FDS) is a useful tool for determining the percentage moisture concentration in solid insulation, the conductivity of liquid insulation and the temperature dependence of the

dissipation factor. The procedure is similar to performing a dissipation factor test. The main difference is that you are performing capacitance and tan delta measurements at different frequencies and to complete the test is somewhat longer - usually around 30 minutes. Another difference is that you are testing at lower voltages, typically 140 Vrms. Because the hook-up is the same as that used for tan δ testing, the same recommendations apply with regards to input signal location and measurement leads.

When performing this test, take some time to review the literature of the CIGRE 254 document - Dielectric Response Methods for Diagnostics of Power Transformers; and, CIGRE 414 - Dielectric Response Diagnoses for transformer Windings, section 4.1.3. - Suggested checklist for execution of dielectric response measurements on power transformers.

SummaryPerforming electrical testing can be

dangerous if personnel are not familiar with the test equipment and the object under test. An easy to follow procedure is described in NETA ATS 2009 section 7.2.2.2.

We hope that this brief set of recommendations will help you perform electrical testing in a safe manner, producing accurate results and valuable readings. Please remember to practice good management of the data obtained from field tests. Always keep a good record of the results. Data trending will help you to better determine the condition of the transformer, leading to an easier process when making decisions about maintenance plans or immediate actions to be considered before bringing the transformer back in service. Finally, always ensure that you follow carefully the national and international standards mentioned in this feature, those standards or practices (IEC, VDE, GOST, etc) regulating the safe work and operation of electrical testing equipment in your territory and, of course, the manufacturer’s recommendations.

‘Dielectric Frequency Response (DFR) Test Insulation diagnostic testing is a useful tool

for determining the percentage moisture concentration in solid

insulation’

TEST & MEASUREMENT

50 FEBRUARY 2013

R egular testing of power transformers is one of the most effective ways of enhancing

the reliability of electricity supply networks. Because of the size of power transformers and the difficulties associated with taking them out of service for anything but the briefest of periods, the tests almost invariably have to be performed with the transformer already installed. This raises the problem of how best to take the test equipment to the transformer. A typical solution is to load the instruments needed into a van and then set them up on site. This approach works well enough, but the time needed to set up the instruments before starting the tests and then break them down after testing is complete means that it is a relatively inefficient way of operating, especially when large numbers of transformers need to be tested on many different sites.

With these issues in mind, Saudi Electric Company (SEC) in Riyadh approached Megger distributor

Al-Abdulkarim Holding for help in devising a better solution. In response, the company, working in conjunction with Vitaldrive of Cyprus, developed a unique and comprehensively equipped transformer test van.

This has been designed so that, as far as possible, the instruments it contains can be used without the need to remove them from the vehicle, which greatly reduces the time needed to test a transformer. A key feature of this arrangement is a set of cable drums at the rear of the vehicle with special 30-m test leads. These enable connections to be made to the transformer quickly and conveniently even in situations where the vehicle cannot be parked adjacent to it.

The test equipment fitted to the vehicle includes a turns-ratio test set, a transformer ohmmeter for winding resistance tests, a tan delta and capacitance test set, a frequency response analyser for rapid overall condition assessment, and a high-voltage insulation tester. All of the instruments are conveniently mounted

TAKING TESTS TO THE TRANSfORMERSNick Parton, Middle East and Africa Regional sales Manager, Megger describes how his company worked with their local saudi distributor to develop a unique transformer test van

TEST & MEASUREMENT

in a central control compartment within the vehicle, which provides a comfortable working environment for the operators.

Numerous engineering challenges were encountered during construction of the transformer test van, not the least of which was ensuring that all of the instrumentation would work correctly and reliably with the unusually long test leads. It was also necessary to provide special connectors and switching arrangements to ensure that the vehicle could be configured quickly and conveniently to provide any combination of tests that might be needed to suit a particular transformer.

Megger’s development and application support engineers from sites around the world contributed to a solution that would effectively address these problems. The result is a versatile, convenient and reliable test vehicle which has impressed the SEC with its high standards of finish and functionality, and which is providing big savings for transformer testing.

51FEBRUARY 2013

The 2nd Middle East Process Engineering Conference & Exhibition

Supporting Organizations

Silver SponsorsGold Sponsors

The Premier Process Engineering Event for the Middle East

www.mepec.org

29 Sept – 02 Oct 2013Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre

Kingdom of Bahrain

Updated 12 December

Diamond SponsorsPrime Sponsor

52 FEBRUARY 2013

Market Place

Severn Trent Services has launched the MicroDynamics Series OCS721,

a new microwave-powered, open channel, ultraviolet system for municipal wastewater disinfection and water reuse applications. The company claims that the new product offers greater operating cost savings; lower whole-life cost; and long lamp life in a smaller footprint. The press release points out modules can be placed side by side in channels for design flexibility and to reduce civil works requirements.

Severn Trent Services has claimed that MicroDynamics OCS721 system meets dose, log reduction and water quality requirements for a variety of applications. The technology uses microwaves to energise low-pressure, high-output, electrodeless lamps to generate a UVC output of 254 nm, an optimal wave length for bacterial disinfection and as the press release goes on to claim, the electrodeless feature removes the major failure mechanism found in traditional UV lamp technology. The lamps also include a three-year warranty.

Further, the MicroDynamics system features MicroPace a flow pacing technology that can match UV dose. “This unique feature allows for reliable and accurate control of operating conditions in real time to save energy,” said Stan Shmia, UV product manager at Severn Trent Services. “MicroDynamics OCS721 represents a significant advancement in UV lamp technology. Costly lamp maintenance and replacement are now things of the past.”

SEVERN TRENT SERVICES

The Netherlocks Power Wrench portable pneumatic valve actuator

facilitates operation of manual valves for process industry employees while contributing to safe working conditions. The company claims that Power Wrench is capable of opening and closing any size, type or number of manually operated valves, making it a cost effective alternative to multiple actuators.

According to the company’s press release, the Power Wrench connects to valves by a bolt-on universal drive plate, allowing a single Power Wrench to operate multiple valves: plates can be installed on all necessary valves; the operator can simply and quickly attach and use the Power Wrench as and

lOW COST UV DISINFECTION SySTEM

when needed; The drive plates do not interfere with normal manual operation. The release claimed that being air-powered (4-7 bar), it is also safe for use in applications where explosive and/ or flammable liquids or gasses are present.

Netherlocks claims that the integrated safety lever and variable throttle valve configuration enforces two-handed operation of the Power Wrench, making sure the operator has full control over the device at all times. The device weighs only 10.2kg and can effect up to 515Nm of torque, meaning even the toughest manual valves can now be turned quickly and easily without unnecessary strain on the operator, concluded the press release.

NETHERLOCKSPORTABlE VAlVE ACTUATOR

53FEBRUARY 2013

On site

Eighty per cent of the deep tunnel works for Abu Dhabi’s Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme

(STEP), one of the longest gravity-driven sewerage tunnels in the world, has been completed. By the end of January 2013, out of the total length of 41 kilometres, 33 kilometres were completed. The remainder is expected to be completed by the final quarter of 2015.

STEP constitutes the cornerstone of Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company’s (ADSSC) comprehensive plan to meet the long-term waste water collection and conveyance needs of Abu Dhabi Island and mainland. ADSSC is the service provider for sewerage services and owns and operates the sewerage network and treatment plants throughout the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

H.E Abdulla Ali Musleh Al Ahbabi, Chairman, ADSSC said that STEP is part

80% of strategic sewer tunnel completeSTRATEGIC TUNNEl ENhANCEMENT PROGRAMME (STEP) MEETS ThE NEED FOR EFFICIENT COllECTION AND CONVEyANCE OF WASTE WATER FROM EXISTING AND NEWly DEVElOPING AREAS OF ABU DhABI UNTIl 2030

of ADSSC’s five year strategy 2010-2015, which is tied to Abu Dhabi’s long term Vision 2030 plan. With Abu Dhabi’s population envisaged to more than double over the next two decades, ADSSC needs to ensure that sewerage infrastructure supports Abu Dhabi’s ambitious growth plans.

ADSSC started STEP in February 2009 with an approved budget of AED5.7 billion. Once completed, the project will serve as an efficient, economic and sustainable solution to meet the long term sewerage infrastructure demands of the Emirate.

STEP comprises of three key components - a 41-kilometre long deep sewer tunnel with an internal diameter of up to 5.5 metres, 43 kilometres of smaller diameter link sewers and a huge pumping station with a lifting capacity of 30m3/second. The deep sewer tunnel

commences from the existing main pumping stations on Abu Dhabi Island and surrounding islands across to the mainland, descending from 27 metres below ground level to a depth of up to 100 metres. It terminates at the Al Wathba Independent Sewage Treatment Plant (ISTP).

Link sewers (up to 3-metres in diameter) will intercept flows from existing gravity sewers upstream of the existing pumping stations and convey the flows by gravity into the deep tunnel. The deep tunnel will channel the flows, again by gravity, to the new main pumping station located at Al Wathba area where the flows will be pumped out of the deep tunnel into the Al Wathba ISTP. Post-treatment, the treated sewage effluent will be used for irrigation.

To minimise construction impacts and disruption during construction, both

54 FEBRUARY 2013

On site

the tunnel and the link sewers are being constructed using trenchless technology. A total of eight Tunnel Boring Machines or TBMs are being used to excavate the deep tunnel. The TBMs, weighing up to 750 tonnes, with trailing backup equipment are being used to drill through a mixed ground of dolomitic siltstone, claystone, mudstone and gypsum.

Fifth breakthroughThe project achieved a huge milestone

on December 18, 2012 with the fifth breakthrough marking the completion of tunnelling between Work Shaft 9 and Work Shaft 8 at Al Wathba area. The breakthrough took place in the deepest section of 41-km long deep tunnel with the Tunnel Boring Machine mining through a 4.2 kilometre stretch 73 metres below the ground. The tunnelling was carried out under STEP contract T-03 awarded to Impregilo for a 9.7-km section of the deep tunnel, divided into two

sections with two TBMs working on them.The 6.98m diameter tunnel boring

machine started in February 2012 and progressed at the rate of 200 metres per week without any surface interruption. Seventy engineers and technicians took part in this accomplishment.

STEP benefitsSTEP provides a new gravity-driven

sewerage network that addresses the long-term demands arising from Abu Dhabi’s economic development and population growth. It will also provide a new improved sewerage system which is more efficient and environment friendly. The use of trenchless technology avoids any disturbance to traffic or the main roads or other infrastructure works. The sewerage pipelines are being installed deep under the ground without the need for grader works.

The deep tunnel and link sewers will replace the existing main collector

system and get rid of 34 existing pumping stations. The elimination of these pumping stations will remove emissions and odours, improve sewerage and environment services and also improve aesthetics for residential areas. The space dedicated for these pumping stations will be used for other projects.

55FEBRUARY 2013

On site

• 1. A 41-kilometre deep sewer tunnel,

43-kilometres of smaller diameter link

sewers and one huge pumping station

located at the termination of the deep

tunnel sewer.

• 2. The length of deep tunnel sewer is

the equivalent of distance from Abu Dhabi

Island to Shahama. Its internal diameter

is up to 5.5-metres – in other words, easy

passage for a double-decker bus.

• 3. The tunnel depth starts 27-metres

below the ground, reaching a depth of

100-metres - the equivalent of a 30-storey

building below ground.

• 4. 450,000 m3 of concrete will be used

to line the deep tunnel, the equivalent of

180 Olympic size swimming pools full of

concrete.

• 5. Series of link sewers over 50-km long

and up to 3-metres in internal diameter -

among the longest in the world.

• 6. Pumping station with capacity of

30m3/sec located at the termination

of the deep tunnel sewer. The pumps

would take just over one minute to fill one

Olympic-size swimming pool.

• 7. The new system will provide for an

average wastewater flow of 800,000m3/

day, and is designed to have an ultimate

capacity of 1.7 million m3/day by 2030

• 8. Eight Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM)

with diameter of approximately 7-metres

are being used for excavation. The length

of TBMs is approximately 110-m.

• 9. The elimination of 34 existing

pumping stations at the end of the

programme will benefit in creation of

new land for redevelopment offering

alternative uses in future.

• 10. The Deep Tunnel is engineered to

be maintenance-free for over 80 years.

10 FACTS ABOUT STEP

PRIMARY CONSULTANT / ROLE

• CH2M HILL / Employer’s Engineer for

Design-Build

CONTRACTORS / CONTRACTS• Six (6) Design-Build Contracts

DEEP SEWER TUNNEL • Samsung / Contract T-01

• Impregilo S.p.A. / Contract T-02

• Impregilo S.p.A. / Contract T-03

LINk SEWERS• Züblin / Contract LS-01

• Züblin / Contract LS-02

PUMPING STATION• Odebrecht / Contract PS-01

56 FEBRUARY 2013

Interview

How would you describe your involvement with Middle East Electricity (MEE)?

On a personal level, energy and power have always been core areas of interest for me, even when I was working within the industry or today, as things stand, from an organiser’s standpoint. Middle East Electricity (MEE) is close to my heart because the industry is close to my heart. Though lay people may view electricity as a cut and dry subject, I see it as a very exciting field. I live and breathe this industry, whether it is in terms of technology or innovation or in terms of developments taking place in the region. When you think that power and water are essential to human life, understanding how the technology af-fects us or how we apply it in day to day life becomes all the more fascinating.

In your opinion, what explains the longevity and popularity of MEE?

At Middle East Electricity, we continue to build on our strengths while identify-ing areas for improvement. Our success is the success of our exhibitors or manufacturers who come to our show. Everyone in the MEE team is constantly striving to understand what drives the industry. We don’t see the event in narrow space selling terms; rather, it

Sustaining confidenceNow in its 38th edition and organised by Informa Exhibitions, Middle East Electricity can certainly lay claim to the sobriquet of the largest and longest-running energy event in the Middle East, attracting more than 15,000 visitors from 120 countries every year. This year also marks the launch of co-located event Solar Middle East as a dedicated platform for the regional solar industry. Anita Mathews, Director, Informa Energy Group speaks to Anoop K Menon on the reasons for MEE’s succes and how the event has stayed on course despite the ups and downs in the industry.

is about talking business. Even during the global downturn, MEE grew year on year and never experienced a dip in terms of exhibitors coming to the show. I believe that one of our greatest strengths is exhibitor loyalty because they rarely return if they are unhappy with the event or if their requirements weren’t met. We have always been com-mitted to delivering on the promises we make to our exhibitors. In my team, we have a simple rule - if 97% of the exhibitors are happy with a certain element, we focus on the three per cent they are missing, identify that area and build on that.

A key success factor for MEE is our location – Dubai is one of the biggest re-export markets in the world. MEE is not a Dubai show or a regional or a Middle East show; rather, it is an inter-national show. We have tracked visitors from over 120 countries who have come down to the event to purchase or procure products or services for their respective markets. We wouldn’t be able to achieve that kind of reach if the business environment here wasn’t conducive for these entities to do business. In terms of international support, we have about 17 government-supported pavilions at MEE, which is a great strength. We have the maximum number of German manufacturers in the power sector outside of Germany, which is a tremendous achievement.

Moreover, if you go to MEE show floor, you will not find non-relevant exhibi-tor or ‘space fillers’ on the floor. Today, MEE is among the biggest power events in the world today. But our goal is to become number one global power industry event, second to none. That’s the vision we nurse in terms of building this show.

How do you and your team zero in on the broad themes and content of MEE and ensure that the event is contemporary and up-to-date?

In MEE, content development and management is a team effort. If you look at the event, we cover everything to do with power – from generation, T&D, lighting to renewable energy and nuclear. We are in the process of

Anita Mathews

57FEBRUARY 2013

Interview

developing the nuclear side because it a comparatively new technology in this part of the world. In terms of content management, everybody who works on the show, in sales or marketing, try to gauge the trends while interacting with exhibitors. For example, we have found there is a growth in the number of gen-erator or engine manufacturers coming to the event. In fact, this segment has been doing well for the past five years. This can be translated back to market demand in terms of projects or infrastructure development not only in the UAE but across the GCC. Our focus would be: With many of these compa-nies coming in, who are their competi-tors that might benefit by coming to our show? Who are the players in the support industry? We also look at geo-graphical sectors - If we look at product sectors and geographical sectors, the growing areas within MEE are Italy, Germany and Turkey year on year. Here, we identify the leaders in the respective product sectors in these geographies, whether they doing business outside of their domestic market.

If you look at MEE profile, you will find many of the GCC manufacturers exhibiting at the event; they find Dubai a great meeting point where they can interact with customers from all over the region instead of travelling to each country to promote their products. In the case of Saudi visitors, when we compare 2011 and 2012, there was a 28% increase in terms of visitors. We go back and ask our customers again: the key markets they are interested in, where they expect their visitors to come from, and who they would like to meet – consultants, contractors, utilities,

project managers. We try and find these visitors for them. We also get visitors from India and Africa, especially North Africa. How-ever, we launched Power Nigeria to tap into business opportunities in West Africa. When our customers told us they would like to go into these markets, we decided to address the gap by taking a sister event of MEE into that market. The same approach resulted in the launch of Africa Electricity in Johan-nesburg.

What are the milestones that you are really proud of?

Maintaining the sustainable growth of our show all these years despite difficul-ties like the economic downturn have given us renewed confidence in the content and value of our product, which is MEE. Of course, MEE is a platform for major manufacturers to promote their presence in terms of their brand or their products. But I also see MEE as an action platform in the sense that our customers and stakeholders come to this event to talk business instead of merely ticking their presence. While ups and downs are part and parcel of indus-try, we have been able to maintain our growth year on year. Maintaining this positive trend over the past 7-8 years has not been an easy task.

This year, the launch of Solar Middle East, alongside MEE, is a turning point for us. When you look at power gen-eration in the GCC, it has always been conventional fossil fuels. Of late, we are seeing a lot of interest in renewable energy, especially solar. We always had solar on the show floor, so we decided

to bring them together and launch that as a dedicated platform alongside MEE so that anyone interested in solar has a dedicated area to visit and exhibit.

Working on MEE is an ongoing pro-cess; thus, work on the 2014 edition will starts on the 2013 show itself, whether it is rebooking or understanding exhibi-tor expectations for the next year, work will start on the three days of the show. For the past three years, almost 50% of our exhibitors have re-booked their participation for the next edition on the show floor itself. We end up planning our personal lives around the show.

The way the show has been evolv-ing over the past few years, we have always tried to improve editions year on year. We have left the static exhibi-tion far behind, as technical seminars, conferences and awards become value adds. These are not revenue generat-ing streams for us; rather, we are giving back to the industry through sharing of knowledge and best practices. In terms of trend changes, we are focusing on our strengths to make it even better and iden-tifying the gaps to bridge those gaps.

What is your message to the industry?

The market vibes for 2013 are positive; learning from negativities of the past has helped the industry stabilise and draw up more mature plans for the future. I can see the Middle East mar-kets growing in strength in the future. The region held its ground and didn’t crumble under pressure even during the tough economic times, and that’s no mean task. For this, all the credit goes to the region’s leadership.

For the past three years, almost 50% of our exhibitors have re-booked their participation for the next edition on the show floor itself.

58 FEBRUARY 2013

Last month, Abu Dhabi’s Regulation & Supervision Bureau (the Bureau) launched its

Powerwise and Waterwise offices as part of a wider initiative to conserve natural resources and move towards a sustainable future.

“A sustainable water and electricity sector is not only about investing in green technologies; and it is not the sole responsibility of the Government. We all have an essential role in helping to conserve our natural resources,” said Nick Carter, Director General of The Bureau.

Powerwise and Waterwise offices were launched to the respective sectors a year ago but they were officially launched to the Abu Dhabi community during the first International Water Summit (IWS), held in the UAE capital last month. Operating as separate offices under The Bureau, their main objective is to encourage behavioural change among residents of the Emirate through increased awareness and education. In addition to providing recommendations

for consumers on improving water and electricity efficiency, both offices will also act as authoritative information centres in Abu Dhabi for the promotion and shaping of effective efficiency strategies.

First stepsA significant amount of the potable water produced in Abu Dhabi is used by the domestic sector and water consumption continues to rise as the economy and population continue to grow. The demand for potable water is set to double within the next two decades, placing an even bigger burden on this scarce commodity. Other trends such as climate change and water misuse only add to the challenge.

Against this background, the key objectives of Waterwise are to raise awareness of water consumption issues, provide practical tips and interventions and gather data through pilot studies for better understanding of how water is used in Abu Dhabi and where we all can make a difference.

The focus now is on getting the website up to speed. “We have launched our website which offers practical tips and advice, looks at common as well as large uses of water, and shows people where water is being wasted,” said Mathew Griffiths, Director of Water Strategy and Reuse, RSB

Also on anvil is a pilot trial to understand water consumption pattern and behaviour in the residential segment. “We have done a pilot of the pilot,” said Griffiths. “We have just completed a study on five villas in Abu Dhabi and are evaluating the results. Based on that, we plan to roll out a proper pilot to 200 villas, the aim being to gather data on how villas use water internally and externally. Once we have that data, we can target opportunities for savings.”

Griffiths feels that pilots are crucial to understanding consumption habits. “We need to gather real hard data and evidence,” he explained. “Once we understand where water is used, we can carry out targeted

A wise strategyAbu Dhabi’s Regulation & Supervision Bureau (RSB) has launched two customer-facing initiatives to build end-consumer awareness of electricity and water savings

Efficiency

59FEBRUARY 2013

Efficiency

communication campaigns, develop codes and regulations.”

To become the trusted knowledgebase for water in Abu Dhabi, Waterwise will also be looking to develop partnerships and collaborations within the sector involving public and private organisations. “We intend to join forces with government agencies, private companies and the Abu Dhabi community to make a difference,” said Griffiths. Powerwise updateThe main aim of the Powerwise office is to push energy efficiency agenda in Abu Dhabi because the electricity peak demand in the emirate is expected to double within the next 10 years putting pressure not only on the energy sector, but on the environment as well.

Ramiz Alaileh, Manager of Powerwise, said: “Our remit can be summarised in three words – knowledge, behavioural change and energy efficiency. By enhancing our customers’ awareness and knowledge, we hope to positively change their behaviour and ultimately achieve energy efficiency.”

Powerwise has already tasted success with its Time of Day pilot, which was rolled out last year. “We saw a lot of enthusiasm and commitment from our volunteers,” said Alaileh. “The fact that people are interested in saving electricity and being a part of our pilots gives us a very positive indication that we can surely achieve our objectives.”

He observed that while technology has a key role to play in achieving energy efficiency, it will not work if the resources are not managed in the right way. Hence, the initial efforts of the Powerwise office are focussed on awareness and behavioural change.

Alaileh noted that educating consumers to follow simple tips can be a powerful way to drive change and move towards a more energy efficient

society. He continued: “A simple step like turning up the AC thermostat by one degree (which was tested out in RSB’s old offices that ran on split ACs) can yield six per cent savings in the energy used for cooling. Just cleaning the filters can save considerable amount of energy while improving overall efficiency of the AC. In fact, a study carried out on large AC systems in Abu Dhabi found that carrying out just basic maintenance can save up to 30% of electricity consumption.”

Alaileh sees pilots helping validate what is understood or known about energy efficiency through hard data in a local context. He continued: “We know lighting accounts of 10-15% of household energy usage, and that CFLs and LEDs use up to 80% less energy than incandescent lighting. However, we still don’t have all the data from our trials which will enable us to look at how much can be achieved. I think, this year, we will be able to analyse the data we have collected over the year and towards the end of the year or early next year, we will be in a better position to talk about the figures.”

Apart from the Time of Day trial launched last year, the Powerwise office plans to launch a Demand Side Management (DSM) pilot project this year focussing on optimising or shaving the peak demand on large AC chillers used by buildings in Abu Dhabi. Alaileh elaborated: “We surveyed a total of 15 buildings before selecting the best five, a mix of residential and commercial buildings. We have already finished the site surveys and are now designing a load management and control system that will be engaged remotely through our offices.”

He pointed out the biggest challenge in the trial will be humidity rather than heat. “A similar project was tried out in Riyadh in 1996 and we have learned from that,” said Alaileh. “We want to assess how much we can

achieve given the humid weather in Abu Dhabi. We will also be installing CO2 sensors to monitor CO2 drop levels and temperature sensors to monitor abnormal changes in temperature, so that we can disengage the system immediately if there are issues. If we are able to shave the peak, we will be able to save a lot in terms of generation resources because air conditioning accounts for the largest chunk of electricity consumption.”

Through trials like Time of Day and DSM, the Powerwise office hopes to demonstrate energy savings that can help build a business case, and also justify larger roll outs. “All this learning helps us, as Powerwise and RSB, to put the regulatory frameworks along with our different stakeholders,” said Alaileh.

He also believes that collaborations and partnerships between stakeholders in the government and private sectors and the larger community are crucial to achieve energy efficiency on a larger scale.”We are already working with different stakeholders in Abu Dhabi. For instance, the distribution company is part of Time of Day trial. We are also sitting on an Emirates-wide committee to make cooling more energy efficient,” he concluded.

Both Powerwise and Waterwise are looking to complement rather than compete with similar entities in their respective spheres. They therefore welcome collaboration through partnerships that focus on achieving water and energy efficiency on the larger scale. Powerwise and Waterwise will work closely with other Abu Dhabi Government entities.

Bin Braik says it will require concerted efforts and a collaborative approach from Waterwise, the water sector, industries and individuals alike to play their part, no matter how small, to wisely manage this resource for the benefit of all.

60 FEBRUARY 2013

Tenders & Projects

PROJECT NUMBERPROJECT NAME

TERRITORYCLIENT

PROJECT NUMBERPROJECT NAME

DESCRIPTION

PERIODSTATUS

REMARKS

FINANCIAL CONSULTANTLEGAL CONSULTANT

MPP2424-OMusandam IPP DevelopmentOmanName: Oman Oil Company S.A.O.C.Address: Al-Harthy ComplexCity: Muscat PC 118 Postal/Zip Code: 261Country: OmanTel: (+968) 2457 3100Fax: (+968) 2457 3101E-mail: info@oman-oil.comWebsite: http://www.oman-oil.comEngineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the development of an Independent Power Project (IPP) with capacity of 100-120 MW at Musandam.2014 New Tender This project is in Oman. The gas-fired power plant is part of a strategy to move Musandam away from diesel-fired power generation. The scheme will supply power to gas conditioning facility and Musandam residents. Oman Oil Company (OOC) has secured the mandate as lead developer of this IPP in a closed procurement process dictated by a desire to ensure its fast-track execution in tandem with the Musandam Gas Plant venture. It follows the constitution of a special high-level committee, with representatives from the Tender Board, Ministry of Finance, Authority for Electricity Regulation - Oman and the Public Authority for Electricity & Water (PAEW), to oversee the IPP procurement process. It is understood that the plant will be built at Tibat in Wilayat Bukha in Musandam Governorate. A pipeline will supply natural gas as feedstock for the IPP. The oil and gas major will likely form a consortium so that it meets Oman’s minimum eligibility requirements. Client will be

sole off-taker of power from the project and will sell the full output to Oman’s Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco). Oman Oil will buy power from this project for its new gas conditioning facility, which will be built nearby. The IPP is expected to come online by third quarter of 2014. A new company known as Musandam Power Company SAOC has been established to implement this project. Ernst & Young (Oman)Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP (Oman)WorleyParsons (Oman)Power & Alternative EnergyIndependent Power Plants (IPP)

TENDER CATEGORIESTENDER PRODUCTS

ZPR959-SAAl Barakka Substation Construction ProjectSaudi ArabiaName: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia)Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad RoadCity: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955Country: Saudi ArabiaTel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222E-mail: informus@se.com.saWebsite: http://www.se.com.saConstruction of 110/13.8kV substation in Al Barakka. New Tender This project is at Madinah in Saudi Arabia. Purpose of the project is to enhance electricity distribution in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. A decision for launching tendering and bidding process for the construction contract is expected to be made in 2013.Power & Alternative EnergySubstations Construction

TERRITORYCLIENT

DESCRIPTION

PERIODREMARKS

TENDER CATEGORIESTENDER PRODUCTS

61FEBRUARY 2013

Tenders & Projects

ZPR961-SAAl Shati Substation Construction ProjectSaudi ArabiaName: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia)Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad RoadCity: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955Country: Saudi ArabiaTel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222E-mail: informus@se.com.saWebsite: http://www.se.com.saConstruction of 110/13.8kV substation in Al Shati. New Tender This project is at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Purpose of the project is to enhance electricity distribution in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. A decision for launching tendering and bidding process for the construction contract is expected to be made in 2013.Power & Alternative EnergySubstations Construction

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ZPR950-SAAl Muhandiseen Substation Construction ProjectSaudi ArabiaName: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia)Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad RoadCity: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955Country: Saudi ArabiaTel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222E-mail: informus@se.com.saWebsite: http://www.se.com.saEngineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build 115/13.8kV substation in Al Muhandiseen.New Tender This project is at Al Khobar, Al Sharqiyah in Saudi Arabia. Purpose of the project is to

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enhance electricity distribution in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. A decision for launching tendering and bidding process for the construction contract is expected to be made in 2013. Power & Alternative EnergySubstations Construction

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ZPR952-SANew Umm Al Hamam 8175 Substation Construction ProjectSaudi ArabiaName: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia)Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad RoadCity: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955Country: Saudi ArabiaTel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222E-mail: informus@se.com.saWebsite: http://www.se.com.saEngineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build 132/13.8kV substation in New Umm Al Hamam 8175.New Tender This project is at Al Kharj in Saudi Arabia. Purpose of the project is to enhance electricity distribution in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. A decision for launching tendering and bidding process for the construction contract is expected to be made in 2013. Power & Alternative EnergySubstations Construction

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ZPR955-SAHail South 9031 Intercon-nection Line Construction ProjectSaudi ArabiaName: Saudi Electricity Company - Central Region (Saudi Arabia)Address: Burj Al Faisaliyah Bldg., Floor 22, King Fahad Road

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City: Riyadh 11416 Postal/Zip Code: 22955Country: Saudi ArabiaTel: (+966-1) 461 9030 / 461 9009Fax: (+966-1) 403 2222E-mail: informus@se.com.saWebsite: http://www.se.com.saConstruction of interconnection line in the substation of Hail South 9031.New Tender This project is in Saudi Arabia. Purpose of the project is to enhance electricity distribution in the region. The project is currently under planning stage. A decision for launching tendering and bidding process for the construction contract is expected to be made in 2013. Power & Alternative EnergyElectric Power Transmission & DistributionSubstations Construction

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140/2012-O/4IPP DevelopmentOmanName: Oman Power & Water Procurement Company S.A.O.CAddress: Muscat International Centre, 2nd Floor, Suite 504City: Ruwi PC 112 Postal/Zip Code: 1388Country: OmanTel: (+968) 2482 3028 / 2482 3000E-mail: ahmed.busaidi@omanpwp.comWebsite: http://www.omanpwp.co.omRequest for Qualifications (RFQ) for the development of an Independent Power Project (IPP).465 FEBRUARY 2013 4, 2013 New Tender Tender No. 140/2012This project is at Raysut in Salalah. Companies who purchased the tender document include Mitsui & Company Limited, Bahwan Engineering Company, Galfar Engineering &

Contracting SAOG, Marubeni Corporation, Abener Engergia SA, EDF International, Siemens LLC, Sojitz Corporation, Kayson, Itochu Corporation, Galfar Engineering & Contracting SAOG and Al Sharikat Faniya Omania LLC. Tender documents can be obtained from:Tender Board Al-Khuwair, Oman.Tel:: (968) 2460 2073 / 2556Fax: (+968) 2460 2063.Last date to purchase tender documents is January 16, 2013. Tender opening date will be on FEBRUARY 2013 04, 2013.Power & Alternative EnergyIndependent Power Plants (IPP)

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MEW/130/2011-12-KXLPE Cables Installation WorksKuwaitName: Ministry of Electricity & Water (Kuwait)Address: Ministry of Electricity & Water Bldg., South Al Surra Street, Ministries AreaCity: Safat - 13001 Postal/Zip Code: 12Country: KuwaitTel: (+965) 2537 1000Fax: (+965) 2537 1420 / 1421 / 1422E-mail: webadmin@energy.gov.kw Website: http://www.energy.gov.kwSupply and installation of 300kV underground XLPE isolated and pilot cables with their accessories at a University City.8,930 January 13, 2013 New Tender Tender No. MEW/130/2011-2012This tender supply is at Al-Shaddadiah in Kuwait. The tender is open to following companies:1) Viscas Corporation, Japan - Local Agent: The Contractor General Trading & Contracting

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Company2) EXSYM Corporation, Japan - Local Agent: Abdullah Al-Hamad Al-Sager & Brothers Company3) Prysmian Powerlink SRL, Italy - Local Agent: Saleh Jamal & Company4) Nexas, France - Local Agent: Abdulaziz A. Mohsin Alrashed Sons Company5) J-Power Systems Corporation, Japan - Local Agent: Electrical Contracting Company Ltd.6) Taihan Electric Wire Company Ltd., South Korea - Local Agent: Rank General Trading & Contracting Company7) LS Cable Ltd., South Korea - Local Agent: Canar Trading & Contracting Company8) Sudkabel GmbH, Germany - Local Agent: Al-Shubaily International General Trading & Contracting Company9) Demirer Kablo Tesisleri Ve Ticaret, Turkey - Local Agent: Gulf Care Medical Equipment & Tools10) China National Wire & Import Corporation, China - Local Agent: Wara Golden General Trading & Contracting Company.Tender documents can be collected from:Central Tenders Committee (CTC)Safat 13011,KuwaitTel: (+965) 2240 1200Fax: (+965) 2241 6574E-mail: info@ctc.gov.kwThe price of tender documents shall be paid by a certified cheque or by K-net. Bid Bond is KD 340,000/-. Power & Alternative EnergyCables & Accessories (All Types)

15/T/2012-JAzraq Photovoltaic Solar Plant ProjectJordan

Name: Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (Jordan)Address: Jebel Amman, 7th CircleCity: Amman Postal/Zip Code: 140027Country: JordanTel: (+962-6) 586 3326Fax: (+962-6) 586 5714E-mail: memr@amra.nic.gov.joDesign, supply, construction, commissioning and warranty of grid connected photovoltaic solar plant in Azraq.705 January 31, 2013 New Tender Tender No. 15/T/2012This project is in Jordan. Tender documents can be obtained from:Ministry of Energy & Mineral ResourcesJabal Amman, JordanTel: (+962-6) 582 8971Fax: (+962-6) 582 1398.E-mail: generals@memr.gov.joBid bond is JOD 100,000.Power & Alternative EnergyCables & Accessories (All Types)Electric Power Transmission & DistributionElectrical Materials (All Types) / Works & Services

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POWER & WATER MIDDLE EAST is a monthly magazine focusing on the power and water sectors in the Middle East, vital to the region’s well-being, security and growth.

As a platform which brings together the key stakeholders, from utilities, developers and contractors to consultants and suppliers to identify trends, opportunities and challenges, the publication is an essential point of reference for everyone involved in power and water industry.

Tenders & Projects

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PROJECTS / TENDERS / ENQUIRIES

Emiratestenders.comYour Business Information Provider in the UAE

Emirates Tenders is focused on providing first hand, timely & up-to-date information about the latest projects, tenders enquiries & business deals in the United Arab Emirates.

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Name of Country Website Details Annual FEEUnited Arab Emirates www.EmiratesTenders.com 750 USDSaudi Arabia www.SaudiTenders.com 750 USDKuwait www.KuwaitTenders.com 750 USDOman www.OmanProjects.com 750 USDQatar www.QatarTenders.com 750 USDBahrain www.BahrainTenders.com 750 USDEntire Middle East www.MiddleEastTenders.com 1500 USD

IN-DEPTH COVERAGE & INFORMATION ABOUT PROJECTS AND TENDERSARE AVAILABLE FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN THE FOLLOWING PACKAGES

Its an online service designed to help organizations to identify new business opportunities and stay ahead of their competitors.

• Access to detailed real time database on projects, tenders and enquiries in the United Arab Emirates which are updated on a daily basis.(Details provided are: Tender Name, Posting & Closing Date, Tender Cost, Budgets, Contractors, Consultants, Tender Categories, Status , Remarks and other available information )• A powerful search engine designed to facilitate easy retrieval of information in accordance with specificrequirements.• Dailye-mailnotificationonpreferredareasofbusiness.• Contact details for Clients, Consultants, Contractors, MEP’s, Architects etc available for ongoing projects.• Archive of over 100,000 projects and tenders for market research and analysis.• A weekly compiled E-magazine consisting of projects and tenders in the U.A.E & Middle East Regions.

For enquiries please contact: +971-2 - 6348495Email: sales@EmiratesTenders.com Website: www.EmiratesTenders.com

65FEBRUARY 2013

Events

WETEX 2013April 15-17, 2013, Dubai

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,

Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Middle East Electricity 2013 is now in its 38th edition, making it one of the largest and longest-running power events in the region. To be held at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, Middle East Electricity is positioned as the meeting place for international companies to showcase their products and services for the power, lighting, renewable and nuclear sectors. “Middle East Electricity is the ideal meeting place for exhibitors from all over the world to showcase their products and services to an audience of key decision makers from more than 120 countries,” says Anita Mathews, Exhibition Director of Middle East Electricity,“After a highly successful edition in 2012, where 15,120 unique visitors walked through the exhibition halls, we are looking forward to 2013, and have made some exciting developments in recent

Middle East ElectricityFebruary 17– 19, 2013, Dubai

Power challenges, trends and issues will be the essence of the upcoming POWER-GEN Middle East 2013

conference and exhibition which will take place in Doha, Qatar at Qatar National Convention Centre. Under the Patronage of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, this will mark the 11th year and third year in Qatar following on from the event’s success in 2012 which saw more than 3,000 attendees from over 63 countries. Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, International Events Director, PennWell Corporation who are the organisers of the event, said: “We are excited to be returning to the thriving business hub of Qatar with a world-class conference programme that will see more than 60 high-level speakers deliver engaging presentations and lively panel discussions across four tracks with topics focusing

POWER-GEN Middle East 2013WaterWorld Middle East 2013FEBRUARY 2013 4-6, 2013, Doha

The annual Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) exhibition

is all set to make its presence felt once again at its Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre home. WETEX 2012 was backed by over 30 high-profile sponsors, and spread over 33,000-sqm bringing together more than 1,000 companies from over 32 countries. The organisers are projecting 40,000 sq. meters, over 1,500 participating companies and over 16,000 visitors. WETEX 2013 is being held simultaneously with Dubai Global Energy Forum 2013. The Forum will consist of seven major tracks which consist of plenary and parallel sessions.

The 15th edition of WETEX will include Fossil Fuels focussing on the oil and gas technology sector. WETEX 2013 will also host SmarTech, which is now in its fourth year of showcasing the future of green commerce in the region. WETEX is held in accordance with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Finance Minister of the UAE and President of DEWA.

Contact: The Middle East Electricity teamTel: +971 4 336 5161Fax: 971 4 335 3526E-mail: meelectricity@iirme.comURL: www.middleeastelectricity.com

months as we keep aligned with industry trends.” One such development is Middle East Electricity’s co-location with the inaugural edition of Solar Middle East, a three-day event dedicated to the regional solar industry. Also, Middle East Electricity 2013 returns with the Middle East Electricity Awards, and an extended programme of technical seminars. Green Energy Middle East Conference will take place on February 18, 2012. Organised by Informa Exhibitions, Middle East Electricity 2013 is partnered with Power + Water Middle East in Abu Dhabi, Power Nigeria in Abuja and Africa Electricity in Johannesburg.

Contact: James Caffall Forbes Associates T: +974 (3383) 4730URL: www.power-gen-middleeast.comURL: www.waterworldmiddleeast.com

on vital power issues and challenges as well as the growth of the gas, renewable and alternate energy sectors.”WaterWorld Middle East 2013, which is co-located with POWER-GEN Middle East with platinum sponsorship from Qatar’s Ministry of Works – Ashghal, will see over 50 speakers and eminent chairs from 20 countries deliver presentations and panel discussions in response to the opportunities and challenges in water supply and sanitation in the MENA region.

Contact: May Ann Tel: 04-515-1426 M: +971 50 9148863E-mail: May.Apuya@dewa.gov.ae URL: www.wetex.ae

66 FEBRUARY 2013

XXX Flipside

The Zerotracer is a project initiated by Designwerk, a design-engineering firm based

in Zürich, Switzerland. The initial goal was to create a high performance, high-efficiency vehicle to compete in the 2011 Zero Emissions Race around the world. With the help of sponsors like Oerlikon Solar, Swisslife Insurance and Brusa Electric, that goal became a reality. Zerotracer set a record for distance covered by an electric-powered vehicle in February 2011 by travelling 30,000 kilometres in 80 days as part of the Zero Emission Race. The race featured four zero emission vehicles and the route took teams through Asia, Africa, Europe and North America

This electric-powered motorcycle can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds – faster than a Porsche 911.

ZEROTRACER A zero emission motorcycle that you can ride to work every day

Running on an 183hp high performance electric engine, its electronically limited maximum speed is 250 km/h. Unlike other motorcycles, Zerotracer encloses its passengers in a silent and weatherproof environment with heating and cooling, full-fledged sound system and convenient seating, creating the feeling of flying through traffic in a full size glider. A quick charge of the Zerotracer (80% of the battery capacity) is done in less than half an hour - by the time you have enjoyed two excellent Cappuccinos, you are ready to go the next 300 something kilometres, which isn’t too bad for a single charge.

In an interview published on the Zerotracer website (www.zerotracer.com), Tobias Wülser said: “Our lithium polymer batters can be fully charged 2,000 times. And you can drive 250 kilometres per

charge or in total, around half a million kilometres is possible. If the owner drives 20,000 kilometres per year, the Zerotracer’s batteries would last for 25 years.”

Once you enter the Zerotracer, you are surrounded by high quality materials such as leather, aluminium and carbon, entertained by a full fletch sound system and seated into two body-contoured seats. The Plexiglass windows offer a surround sight of over 250 degrees. Equipped with an impact absorbing Kevlar-compound body, three point safety harnesses and Xenon/LED lights the passenger safety is comparable to modern car standards. The homologation and safety criteria have been verified and fully approved by the Swiss TUV.

Next on the Zerotracer team’s agenda: An electric-powered truck.

Naji El Haddad, Show Director of the World Future Energy Summit (left) poses with Tobias Wülser (centre) and Frank Loacker (right) in front of the Zerotracer in Abu Dhabi. Wülser and Loacker are part of the design team of this electric motorcycle, which was exhibited at the 2013 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last month.

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