Smart grids ‘key for meeting rising Saudi energy demand’

Schneider Electric, which is working closely with the Ministry of Water and Electricity, highlighted reduced end-user power outages at the Smart Grid Conference and Exhibition 2013 in Jeddah.
Ahmed Al-Rashoud, vice president at Schneider Electric, told Arab News that the Kingdom’s biggest challenge is meeting the increasing demand for electricity, which is growing by 8 percent annually. 3.5 million barrels of oil is consumed daily to meet the demand for electricity. The biggest challenge is to meet the demand by improving the efficiency of the present network.
The solution to this is to have smart grids with the distribution management system (DMS) that suits Saudi Arabia. The smart grid can provide efficiency to the present system and is the solution to overcome the problem as it will increase about 30 percent efficiency of providing electricity.
Frederic Dillemann, feeder automation business development manager, Schneider Electric France, highlighted the issue of power outages and shared perspectives on self-healing MV grid solutions for significant and quick reduction of end-user outages.
Dillemann explained the importance and use of smart grids and an advanced distribution management system (DMS) as a solution for the Kingdom’s ever increasing electricity demand.
“The solution can, in fact, be compared to our immune system, which automatically prevents us from external threats,” said Dillemann.
“With concerns for the environment on the rise globally, availability of an uninterrupted power supply and sustainable energy management are the need of the hour. Smart grids are a way toward solving the problem of increasing energy needs as they can adopt automatically into a network; a medium voltage network can be upgraded with an intelligent solution in order to react automatically after a fault under 30 seconds, that’s how fast the smart grid restores power,” he said.
Up to 30 minutes of outages per year per habitant is definitely a good achievement but a utility may need not improve significantly this performance in certain part of its grid for more demanding areas or end customers.
He said the major priority is to reduce the outages in the networks for strategic customers and is very simple as it is pre-tested and implemented in the general network.
“Saudi Arabia feels strongly to move toward the smart grid efficiently, so this system can be implemented within 3 to 6 months to make network efficiency in all types of configuration networks. Saudi Arabia needs it because the demand for electricity is growing by 6 to 8 percent every year, especially during summer when the load increases more, and it is difficult to oversize the transformers and cables, so this system can avoid any threat or blackout in such conditions. We are providing two systems — one is the smart grid substation, including a self-filing system, and the other is intelligence of remote terminal unit and self-healing network, both underground and overhead,” added Dillemann.
Additionally, the smart grid solution addresses the growing need for an uninterrupted power supply and a reliable grid, and encourages the need for distribution automation to be incorporated into the future grid design. The self-healing network solution can be deployed within months to help customers in critical areas enjoy improved power availability without prolonged waiting periods.
“Let’s have a look at today’s energy dilemma; the energy equation is very simple and very complex to solve. At minimum, energy consumption, including electricity, will double in the next 40 years. Electricity itself will double by 2030. At the same time, climate specialists tell us we should divide emissions by 2 to avoid serious climatic changes. In other terms, the world needs to improve its carbon intensity by a factor of 4. This means the developed world will have to save energy, the consequences of the energy dilemma are numerous; among them, the threat of frequent power outages, and rising energy prices. Utility manufacturers have now to find common answers,” added Dillemann.
So there is an important need for reliable energy. Green energy is definitely a must and an opportunity, he said.
The share of renewable in energy mix could double in the next 20 years based on both IEA and Department of Energy (DOE), US.
He said energy demand will increase considerably by 2050. All over the world, electricity networks are becoming more complex and less stable. To continue to efficiently balance supply and demand, the grid needs to become smarter. CO2 emissions need to be looked into seriously to avoid dramatic climate changes by 2050.
“All over the world, electricity networks are becoming more complex and less stable. To continue to efficiently balance supply and demand, the grid needs to become smarter,” added Dillemann.
The main drivers for the changes are growing electricity demand and strong peak loads and there is need to reduce CO2 emissions. There is need to constraints on existing networks, aging or saturated infrastructure, and assets and penetration of intermittent generation.
“The answer is to help people make the most of their energy, by becoming the global specialist in energy management and smart grid applications,” added Dillemann.
He said utilities and infrastructure now represent 25 percent of the global turnover.
“This balanced map gives Schneider Electric a worldwide vision of smart grid needs and a comprehensive technological skill to cover market needs all over the world,” added Dillemann.