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ABB to help cities become energy smart

ABU DHABI, January 18, 2016

ABB is set to play a key role at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, showcasing its products and solutions at the event besides presenting a paper on solar desalination.

A leading power and automation technology group, ABB said it is helping cities across the world in becoming energy smart with products and solutions for utilities, industries, transport and infrastructure, which have been building blocks of smart and sustainable cities worldwide.  

"Cities occupy only three per cent of the world’s landmass, but consume over two-thirds of the world’s energy. So we need to start using more of existing technologies,” remarked Frank Duggan, the president, Asia, Middle East and Africa, at ABB on the opening day of the WFES.

"Many of these solutions are already fully proven and can have a massive impact. Energy, today derived largely from fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, can indeed be harnessed much more productively through currently available technology. We also recognise and support the need to harness more renewable energy efficiently," noted Duggan.

"For example, electrification of offshore platforms makes it possible for fossil fuel extraction to be more energy efficient as electricity is brought from land to power the extraction equipment. A power-from-shore system has a higher efficiency than offshore generation and it enables power supply from multiple sources, including renewable power," stated the top official.

A notable example is Europe’s largest gas platform, Troll-A, located about 70 km off the Norwegian coast. Instead of using gas turbines located offshore, Troll-A is completely electrified with approximately 200 megawatt (MW) of high-voltage AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) power supplied via subsea cables connected to the Norwegian grid. The electrification has been carried out in two phases: it is estimated that Phase One is resulting in avoidance of 230,000 tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and more than 230 tons of NOx (nitrogen oxides) in emissions annually and this is expected to be much higher when Phase Two is in full operation, he added.

According to him, the research show that only about 20 per cent of the power generated by fossil fuels actually reaches end users with much of it being wasted through various inefficiencies.

Products like ABB’s groundbreaking high-voltage direct current transmission systems and its latest generation transformers can cut losses, meaning fewer fossil fuels would have to be burned and carbon emissions could be curbed.

"Likewise for transport and industry, fast chargers and innovative solutions for electric cars and buses are already in ABB’s portfolio, offering notable savings in energy consumption. With 90 per cent of the world’s traded goods transported by ship, the same applies at sea: ABB products from innovative propulsion systems to more efficient onboard energy management tools could save millions of liters of diesel," stated Duggan.

While transport is responsible for about 23 per cent of total carbon emissions from fossil fuels, the potential savings in industry are probably bigger still, given industrial applications account for about 40 per cent of global electricity consumption.

“The time is now for GCC utility providers and businesses also to invest in energy-efficient water desalination to reduce the carbon footprint and hefty expenses associated with increased power consumption,” explained Duggan.

Driven by the launch of the Global Clean Water Alliance, which was announced by Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, Masdar at Paris-based COP21, the message from experts to stakeholders in the water industry is loud and clear: a sustainable water future can only be achieved if potable water is produced without compromising the environment, he added.

The Alliance, an international coalition of more than 80 members, is aiming to reduce carbon emissions from desalination by up to 270  tons annually before 2040.

ABB will also present a paper on solar desalination at the WFES and have experts at hand to discuss production of water efficiently.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: ABB | Cities | energy smart |

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