WETEX: World’s first intelligent gas turbine controller unveiled
EXHIBITORS DISPLAY WARES THAT HELP SAVE ENERGY, WATER AND ENVIRONMENT
An AI-controlled thermodynamic twin gas turbine that increases energy generation efficiency along with other green technology that help save water, energy and the environment were unveiled in Dubai during the 21st Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) yesterday.
Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), inaugurated the exhibition on Monday where the Intelligent Gas Turbine Controller was presented.
Dewa and Siemens co-developed the turbine controller, which they say is the world’s first that uses Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of Dewa, toured Sheikh Hamdan on the system specifications that a team of Dewa engineers, led by Emirati and Siemens experts, developed. The Intelligent Controller has improved turbine efficiency, increased its generation capacity, reduced fuel consumption, which in turn has reduced harmful emissions.
Once deployed across all gas turbines in M-Station, the system is estimated to make financial savings of Dh17 million a year. The turbine is located at M-Station in Jebel Ali, which is the largest power generation and water desalination plant in the UAE.
Financial savings
“We are proud of this global achievement that increased both the energy generation efficiency and capacity of each unit by around 3.5MW. This reduces fuel consumption and eliminates around 10,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per unit per year and Nitrogen Oxides by 10 per cent annually,” Al Tayer said.
“Based on these excellent results, we are also working with Siemens to expand the application of the Intelligent Gas Turbine Controller to the other gas turbines at M-Station. This will contribute to enhancing efficiency and reliability in addition to big financial savings,” he added.
“Our intelligent controller pilot project with Dewa has been a success and it will help support efforts to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050. We are ready to install these AIdriven
controllers in more turbines, and to build on our longterm partnership with DEWA as it continues its digitalisation journey,” said Dietmar Siersdorfer, CEO, Siemens Middle East and UAE.
The three-day exhibition, which will run until tomorrow, features 2,350 exhibitors from 55 countries. It also showcases the fourth Dubai Solar Show. On display is Dewa’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Solar Park, the largest single-site solar park in the world with a planned total production capacity of 5,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030.
It also showcased Shams Dubai initiative that encourages building owners to install solar photovoltaic panels to produce clean energy and connect it to the grid.
Currently, as many as 1,355 buildings have connected to the grid with a total capacity of 13MW, in addition to its Green Charger initiative that establishes the infrastructure and charging stations for electric vehicles.