WATER WEEK 2022 HIGHLIGHTS
Water Week 2022 took place at Taj Exotica Dubai and brought together top utilities executives, government officials, academics and scientists to discuss new frontiers for innovative solutions in the region’s water sector
Uan ITP Media Group brand, successfully hosted the third edition of the annual Water Week event on 13 September. Water Week 2022 took place at the Taj Exotica Hotel, the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE.
The event brought together influential water utilities executives, policymakers, government officials, scientists, academics, technologists
36 and different stakeholders to discuss key opportunities and challenges in the region’s water sector.
The one day physical event, under the theme “Ramping up innovation and collaboration for water resilience,” discussed the direction that the region needs to take in order to solve a myriad of challenges in the water sector and to develop new frontiers for innovative solutions.
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Saudi Arabia’s Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has partnered with Emerson, a global automation technology and software provider to enhance digital performance of its assets in Saudi Arabia.
This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding in which both parties agreed to explore opportunities to achieve SWCC's operational, enterprise and sustainability goals using Emerson’s expertise in sensing, software, analytics and data management.
The strategic collaboration between both companies paves the way to kickstart SWCC’s digital transformation journey while also supporting its sustainability and decarbonisation initiatives through the deployment of energy management systems, predictive emissions monitoring systems and IIoT-capable sensors to provide real time data from the field.
In addition to serving as a technology, software and services provider, Emerson will collaborate with SWCC on innovation, research and development of emerging technologies that will inspire new solutions for both companies, as well as opportunities for sustainable growth.
“We are well equipped with the experience and expertise to provide for the successful development and deployment of SWCC’s digital transformation strategy, as evidenced by our work in other projects of the same nature,” said Vidya Ramnath, President at Emerson for the Middle East and Africa region.“
Soltec, a Spanish company specialising in vertically integrated solutions in the energy sector, has brought its latest tracker to the Middle East, characterized by having the most cutting-edge technology: the SFOne.
According to the International Energy Agency, photovoltaic energy is the cheapest source. And according to experts such as Benjamin Attia, an energy analyst at Wood Mackenzie, "solar energy is the cheapest kilowatt-hour to produce in the Middle East." In this context, companies specializing in photovoltaic solar energy with great international reach such as
Soltec are trying to encourage investment in this industry and take advantage of the light opportunity that this geographical area represents.
The Middle East is in a privileged area in terms of geographical and solar advantages. The great radiation under which it is, as well as its large extension of uninhabitable places, give the region an unparalleled competitive advantage.
“It is a source of light and a region full of opportunities for renewable energies, especially solar”, explains Raúl Morales,
CEO of Soltec.
Soltec, a company specialized in vertically integrated solutions in the photovoltaic solar energy sector, is a Spanish company with more than 18 years of experience and excellence focused on innovation. Its desire to offer the most innovative services and products to the market and its customers and its commitment to the areas in which it operates have led it to become one of the largest suppliers of solar trackers and to have an international presence in 16 countries.
Since Soltec entered the Arab market in 2017 with the construction of a 16.5 MW solar plant in Al Zumeilah, 50 km south of the Jordanian capital Amman, it has continued to develop and bring its technology. The latest addition to that market has been the SFOne. This solar tracker represents Soltec's commitment to 1P technology and has the most innovative systems.
This tracker is characterized by incorporating the Full-Wireless system, one of the most innovative on the market, and cutting-edge Dy-Wind technology, which presents the most advanced methodology for the design of wind structures and adaptability to terrain and environments. Configured to a double row single axis and designed for modules from 72 to 78 cells. In addition, it provides greater ease of installation due to its self-powered module, which speeds up the plant construction process.
This is not the first time that the company has marketed this type of tracker.
SolarBotanic Trees d announces the arrival of its game-changing ‘solar tree’ designed to offer aesthetically pleasing and sustainable energy, ideally suited to large scale commercial environments such as flagship office sites and sports stadia.
The SolarBotanic™ Tree is unique to the market and the result of five years of planning research and design, and features exciting new Photovoltaic (“PV”) 3D leafshaped nano-technology to harness solar energy for charging and energy storage.
It has been developed in collaboration with Co-Innovate – a business support programme which supports SMEs in
London by using academic and innovation resources at Brunel University London, the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry and the AMRC’s Design and Prototyping Group who will be conducting the prototype testing.
This first-generation SolarBotanic Tree will eventually spawn a family of products, primarily aimed at the rapid Electric Vehicle charging market for homes, businesses and commercial car parks, where solar power can be captured and stored for charging points.
It will also encompass a sophisticated AIdriven energy storage and power management system (PMS), where trees can be linked and form part of a local grid, or feed into the main grid, essential to optimise an increasingly electrified future.
The first SolarBotanic Trees will become available in early 2023.
SolarBotanic Trees are the brainchild of seasoned business executive, Harry Corrigan who wanted to find solutions to the carbon problems the world is facing. Harry has designed the concept by collaborating with an Innovation and business support scheme.
Global technology company, Hitachi
Energy, has won a major order from TenneT and TransnetBW, two of Germany’s four transmission system operators, to supply a transmission solution for the SuedLink DC4 high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnection between the north and south of the country.
SuedLink DC4 is one of the most important power grid and energy transition projects in Germany.
It will play a crucial role in Germany’s energy transition, enabling a reduction in the use of fossil fuels and helping the country achieve carbon neutrality by 2045.1
Using Hitachi Energy’s HVDC Light® technology, SuedLink DC4 will transfer up to 2,000 megawatts of emission-free electricity, enough to power 5 million German households.
The link will efficiently transmit electricity for 550 kilometers underground, at ±525 kilovolts, sending wind power from the north to the industrial south, or alternatively solar power from the south to the north.
“We are proud to play a crucial role in this investment in Germany’s transition to renewable energy and carbon neutrality,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business.
Demand for energy has always gone hand in hand with the development of human civilisation. Energy powers every other sector, and progress without energy is inconceivable.
Comprising more than a third of the total global energy demand, the industrial sector is a crucial end-user that must be engaged to achieve any meaningful decarbonisation goals. Investment in on-site solar energy can provide an alternative and cheaper source of electricity to power factories.
GCC countries, in particular, have set ambitious targets to switch to clean energy as part of their national visions. For example, Dubai in the UAE plans to have 25% of its electricity produced through solar by 2030, while Oman has a 30% renewable energy production target by the same period. In line with its ambitions, UAE will be hosting the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 28); the position of the UAE as the host for COP28 reflects the government’s efforts to transform the economy into one that is fuelled by clean and renewable energy sources along with technological advancements and climatesmart solutions.
By 2030, GCC countries are on track to save the equivalent of 354 million barrels of oil by switching to renewables. This shift will result in accelerated demand for cable and wire solutions.
Prioritising economic growth or the environment presents a modern-day predicament to business leaders. The common understanding is that economic growth and environmental protection tend to be competitive because the use of limited resources, which is essential to economic growth, unavoidably causes environmental damage.
We need to think of environment and development as one sector; partial thinking is what will hinder us from meeting the sustainable development goals. The question is not how these sectors can collaborate, but how they can become increasingly intertwined to reflect the joined-up nature of the goals.
We have often seen these two sectors as competing – with the belief that you had to sacrifice environmental quality for development. There has also been some uncertainty from those within these two communities about the intentions or approaches of others. Industry leaders have not always been welcomed in environmental circles and there is mistrust when it comes to issues that are important to so many. But we are seeing a more educated view. Both sides are working together and appreciating that by doing this we can achieve more than we could by working against each other.
It is clear that we need a universal approach, so industrial projects could use the Sustainable Development Goals as a checklist to safeguard the environment and ensure they do not impact it negatively. The end objective remains the same; industrial development without harming the ecosystem.
Numerous companies are treating “sustainability” as a vital objective in their strategy and operations to increase growth and global competitiveness. This trend has spread beyond the small circle who traditionally positioned themselves as “green,” and now includes many leading businesses across many diverse industries.
Multiple companies have embarked on this journey by building in house solar plants, sourcing raw material that minimises harm to the environment such as molten aluminium, reducing waste by recycling copper or any such material and many such practices.
It is essential to educate the future generations about sustainable practices in the business; they need to become responsible industry leaders who restrain from affecting the world in unsustainable methods.