Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) Smart Grid Station (SGS) was inaugurated in Al Ruwayyah by Dubai Supreme Council of Energy chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
Image: Officials of DEWA and Dubai Supreme Council of Energy at the opening of the Smart Grid Station. Photo: Courtesy of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
The construction is part of DEWA’s strategy to implement technologies which can link smart buildings for exchange of information, improve energy and water efficiency and to optimise renewable energy in smart cities.
DEWA stated that the SGS was built in partnership with Korea Electric Power (KEPCO).
DEWA stated that SGS has a 200kW photovoltaic solar system, 9kW wind turbine, and a 500kWh lithium-ion battery energy storage system to store energy for later use. The station also includes over 2,000 sensors based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technology and smart meters distributed throughout the facility.
The system has also been integrated with a smart chiller system through a building management system and a 100-tonne thermal energy storage system. This will help store surplus cooling energy to be used when required and thereby reduces the demand on the smart chiller system.
DEWA managing director and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said: “We are working to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world, as well as the objectives of UAE Centennial 2071, UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city and for the Dubai Government to be a pioneering and excellent government.
“In line with our vision of being a leading sustainable innovative global corporation, we seek to shape the future of the energy sector locally, regionally, and globally through government innovation by keeping pace with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and adopting innovative, disruptive techniques, such as artificial intelligence, IoT, robotics, and 3D printing.”
In early November last year, the company signed an amendment to the PPA with the consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power for the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.
The amendment includes adding 250MW solar capacity, at a cost of $0.2 per kWh. With this addition, the total capacity of the fourth phase of the solar park will rise from 700MW to 950MW.