A major conference showcasing the future of smart cities, ways to implement best international practices to manage energy consumption as well as ambitious plans to fulfil growing energy opened today (November 25) in Dubai.

The ‘Power to Cloud’ conference and exhibition, organised by Schneider Electric, was inaugurated by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa.

“The two-day conference and exhibition held under the theme ‘Building Next Generation Mission-Critical IT Infrastructure,’ and other such initiatives, are important for us to exchange expertise, experiences, and information. It also helps the process of developing the necessary technology required for the transition to smart grids, and accelerating the construction of smart cities,” said Al Tayer.

“We at Dewa work towards implementing the Smart City initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The initiative aims to establish Dubai as a smart city by developing Smart Grids that enhance the performance of utility providers, upgrade the services provided and ensure that supplies and services contribute to environmental protection and reduced carbon emissions.”

Dewa has set its strategy and roadmap for smart power and water grids, totaling Dh7 billion ($1.9 billion) to support the efficient and reliable infrastructure of communication to support the Demand Side Management programme and connect to sources of renewable energy.

Dewa also has proceeded with the smart meters project, and plans to install 72,000 smart meters per year for new connections. It is expected that the existing mechanical and electromechanical meters will be completely replaced by smart meters within the next five years at a rate of 250,000 electricity and water meters per year in the residential, industrial, and commercial sectors.

The use of smart meters is a key element of building a smart network, and Dewa is a leading organisation in adopting the latest technologies,  such as SCADA systems, control systems, protection and smart systems, to achieve the highest possible standards of efficiency, and reliability,” added Al Tayer.

The event was attended by some 1,000 visitors from across the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. A majority of the visitors compromised C-suite Executives while key opinion leaders from the region’s IT, energy, and power domains headlined the panel discussions. – TradeArabia News Service