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Middle East must get power smart
- 12 years ago (2011-05-25)
- David Flin
Electricity authorities in the Middle East face oil deficits, budget cuts, decreases in natural resources and political disputes, leading them to consider cutting domestic power supplies as a way of power rationing, according to Roy Hodges, Vice President of the consultants Technology Partners. He said: “Restricted energy supply has already led to problems across the region.”
Hydrogen Americas Summit
“As the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) adds more countries to its regional grid to enable it to share excess power between countries, power consumption continues to rise and electricity crises in Iraq, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and others are becoming more of a problem. Coupled with the increased cost and scarcity of energy sources available to countries, the need for a solution that manages demand, minimises loss and encourages sensible consumer behaviour is now more critical than ever.
“The two biggest problems for utilities are managing peak demand and minimising energy wastage. Continued expansion of generation capacity is essential to meet long-term demand growth and ultimately involves building power stations and widening the distribution grid. Recent technology advances can mitigate this requirement by using a smart solution – one that can manage the entire utility supply chain from generation to consumption by the end user, and all in near real time. A Smart Grid upgrades grid communications to enable real-time management of the electricity grid and its components. Being able to read electricity meters every 15 minutes instead of once a month, for example, allows a far greater understanding and forecasting of user demand.”