ITP MEDIA GROUP / BUSINESS APRIL 2020• VOL. 14, ISSUE 04 The clean-energy sector is struggling to gauge the potential damage that lies ahead as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread Thhlltitlitthtti ll ddThltitlitthtti l d WINDING DOWNThe MHPS-TOMONI® suite of advanced digital solutions increases power plant flexibility and availability to help maximize plant revenues. It will also enhance your plant’s competitiveness by helping to lower the cost of electricity and achieving environmental goals. The net result: improved profitability for you. MHPS-TOMONI® is on the leading edge of power plant digitalization. We’re creating the building blocks for the smart power plant of tomorrow and can put them to work in your power plant today. changeinpower.com/tomoni DELIVERING IMPROVED POWER PLANT PROFITABILITY THROUGH INTELLIGENT DIGITAL SOLUTIONS. ©2020 Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. All rights reserved. MHPS-TOMONI® is a registered trademark or trademark of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. in the United States and other countries. 96826_MHPS_TOMONI_GRDA_UtilitiesMiddleEast.indd 12/20/20 1:51 PMCONTENTS www.utilities-me.com April 2020 / Utilities Middle East 3 Volume 14 | Issue 04 Contents As the coronavirus outbreak rages on, renewable energy is taking a hit. Factory shutdowns in China have disrupted global supply chains for wind turbines and solar panels, with conse- quences for clean energy progress this year around the world. The spread of COVID-19, now declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, is expected to slow solar energy’s rate of growth for the fi rst time since the 1980s. Two major solar panel manufacturers, JinkoSolar Holding Co. and Canadian Solar Inc., have both seen their stock prices fall by double digits. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research fi rm, previ- ously predicted that global solar energy capacity would grow by 121 to 152 gigawatts this year, but the group has issued a new report dialling back its prediction to just 108 to 143 Gigawatts. Disruption in supply is only part of the equation. The new report predicts that as policymakers and businesses focus on short-term stimulus packages to help the economy, energy infrastructure investments and planning will temporarily go by the wayside. This has already happened in Germany, where a scheduled government meeting to resolve questions over the future of renewable energy last month was used instead to plan for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, major U.S. solar developers that can’t get their hands on enough panels are issuing their own “force majeure” notices to utilities. Invenergy and NextEra Energy, the developers of the fi rst two utility-scale solar farms in the state of Wisconsin, both cited the clause in late February and warned of delays to the projects. Now NextEra claims its 150 megawatt solar farm is back on track, while Invenergy’s 300 megawatt project is still up in the air. Factories in China are reportedly starting up operations again, but the ripple eff ects of the short-term disruption strengthen the case for local manufacturing of renewable energy equipment. The International Energy Agency is encouraging govern- ments that are planning stimulus packages in the wake of the pandemic to prioritise green investments and capitalize on the downturn in oil prices to phase out fossil fuels. COVID-19 rocks solar market Baset Asaba, Editor Email: baset.asaba@itp.com View point WINDING DOWN As COVID-19 tears apart the global economy, can renewables retain their energy?CONTENTS 4 Utilities Middle East / April 2020 www.utilities-me.com MENA smart grid invest- ments to reach $17.6bn by 2027 Smart grid investment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is on track to reach $17.6 billion over the next seven years, according to the Energy & Utilities Market Outlook Report 2020, a surge driven by greater attention to renewable energy sources across the region 02 FANR will oversee commis- sioning of Unit 1 at Bara- kah NPP The UAE’s Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) has announced that it will oversee the commissioning phase of Barakah Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 which will include loading the nuclear fuel assemblies into the unit 03 Egypt’s Hassan Allam bags deal for Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant Hassan Allam Holding’s scope of work for the project covers design and building works for 40 buildings and structures within the nuclear power plant. The contract award represents one of the fi rst major activities on the megaproject 05 42 34 05 UPDATES 11 NEWS ANALYSIS 20 INDUSTRY TRENDS 24 COVER FEATURE 31 SPECIAL REPORT 48 PRODUCTS 09 11 19 Saudi Arabia headquartered ACWA Power and Natixis have announced that the Taweelah IWP has obtained the first-ever “sustainable loan” quali- fication for a water desalination proj- ect globally SPECIAL EDITION ALSO THIS MONTH 09 SOLAR-HYDRO RayGen Resources Pty Ltd (RayGen) obtains $3mn to conduct a technical and commer- cial feasibility study for a 4 MW “solar hydro” power plant to be built in Australia 34 A BATTERED MARKET? Over the past few years, energy stor- age has been the hot topic in solar and e-mobility. But the worldwide battery market is undergoing a temporary decline as the outbreak of coronavirus stalls production 19 EGYPT WATER ACWA Power embarks on a sustainable desalination drive for Egypt with new projects to be powered by solar and wind, or a combi- nation of both renewable energy sources 42 POWERING BEYOND Over the next fi ve years, the MENA region will need to invest $209bn in the power sector according to the latest MENA Power Investment Outlook 2019-2023 report issued by APICORP 24 WINDING DOWN As the spread of corona- virus escalates, global renewable energy focus is quickly shifting to demand, as the reality dawns that a global economic slowdown may be inevitable 11 CLEAN DESAL Renewable energy is gaining popularity within the region sweater desal- ination sector as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announce large scale solar powered desalination projects Most popular news stories on www. Utilities-me.comitiesNews Saudi Arabia headquartered ACWA Power and Natixis have announced that the Taweelah IWP has obtained the fi rst-ever “sustainable loan” qualifi cation for a water desalination project globally. Closed in September 2019, the $758mn project fi nance loan, with a contractual tenor of 32.4 years, will fi nance what will become the largest reverse osmosis plant in the world when completed in 2022. Vigeo Eiris, which provided an independent second party opinion on the sustainability creden- tials and management of this project fi nance loan, confi rmed that it is aligned with the four compo- nents of both the Green Loan Principles (published by the LMA in 2018) and the Social Bond Principles (published by the ICMA in 2018, and used in this case in the absence of published Social Loan Prin- ciples). Natixis acted as initial mandated lead arranger, documentation bank, hedge provider, global facil- ity agent and sustainable loan coordinator. Natixis also acted as sole arranger and investment agent under the Islamic Equity Bridge Loan for ACWA Power’s equity portion. This project fi nance loan is dedicated to the fi nancing of the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a state-of-the-art, 200 million imperial gallons per day reserve osmosis plant and associated infrastructure and facilities. The plant will be constructed in the existing Taweelah complex, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The project also includes a 68 MW peak photovoltaic power plant to comple- ment the energy supply from the procurer’s grid. ACWA Power is the lead developer and opera- tor of the project and a 40% shareholder, with the remaining 60% contributed by the Government of Abu Dhabi through Abu Dhabi Power Corporation and Mubadala Development Company PJSC. Emirates Water & Electricity Company (EWEC), a fully-owned entity of the Government of Abu Dhabi and the water & power supplier of the region, is the sole off taker of the project under a 30-year contract. The tariff off ered by ACWA Power for the Al Taweelah IWP was the lowest achieved to date in the world for desalinated water. The project, when constructed, will also set another world record by utilising the lowest amount of energy per gallon of desalinated water produced. The plant will play a vital role in cater- ing to Abu Dhabi’s peak water demand, which is expected to rise by 11% between 2017 and 2024. According to Vigeo Eiris, the Taweelah project will constitute “a state-of-the-art desalination plant, including modern and energy effi cient technolo- gies for water production (seawater reverse osmo- sis), higher standards and monitoring of its effl u- ents’ water quality”. The technology employed is considered by the World Bank as the most energy effi cient and best- in-class among existing desalination technology. Vigeo Eiris expects that the “new desalination plant will signifi cantly increase - almost doubling - the volume of water supply available to the local water network and population. REGIONAL UPDATE // ESSENTIAL INSIGHTS FOR MIDDLE EAST WATER, GAS AND ELECTRICITY PROFESSIONALS Taweelah IWP secures sustainable loan This is the first-ever “sustainable loan” qualification for a water desalination project globally Desalination www.utilities-me.com April 2020 / Utilities Middle East 5Taqa delivers third year of profitability Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (“TAQA” or the “Group”), a leading global energy company headquartered in Abu Dhabi with operations in 11 countries, announced last month its fi nancial results and operational highlights for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2019. TAQA achieved strong operational performance for the year with increased production levels across its businesses: power, water, oil and gas. This helped ensure continued fi nancial profi tability for the Group and for a third consecutive year. This comes despite more challenging market conditions for the oil and gas industry. In power and water, global technical availability, a key metric, reached 93.4% (up from 93.1% in 2018). We generated 91,307 GWh of power (up from 89,922 GWh in 2018) and 246,894 MIG of desalinated water (up from 246,556 MIG). This increased revenues in our main business stream by 1% to AED 11.5 billion. Oil and gas production hit 124,418 boepd (up from 123,100 boepd in 2018). This was largely due to higher entitlement production at the Atrush fi eld in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 27,700 cars off the road each year. Sebastopol Solar Farm’s con- struction and operation will con- tribute to the economic develop- ment of the area, with FRV project- ing the creation of up to 150 jobs during the construction phase of the plant, and 2-3 operational staff for the entire life of the project. Maintenance contracts for jobs such as panel cleaning, fence repair, and road grading, etc. will also be required and will likely be met by local contractors or sub- contractors. ALJE to power 40,000 homes in Australia Abdul Latif Jameel Energy (ALJE), through leading global developer of renewable utility-scale projects Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), has announced the signing of a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Snowy Hydro, one of Australia’s major electricity gener- ation and retailing companies. The agreement will permit FRV to deliver solar power gener- ated from the 90MWac Sebasto- pol Solar Farm in the State of New South Wales, Australia. Located 16km south of Temora and approximately 440km south west of Sydney in New South Wales, the plant will connect to the national grid. Its generation will be enough to supply energy to over 40,000 Australian households and avoid the emission of approx- imately 77,600 tons of CO2 annu- ally, the equivalent of taking about Solar Covid-19 Coronavirus to impact China’s wind energy sector China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has initiated an industry sur- vey on the impact of COVID-19. The coronavirus outbreak will impact the supply chain and instal- lation operations in China’s wind energy sector, as well as the world- wide wind industry, according to a report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Chi- nese Wind Energy Association (CWEA). GWEC Market Intelligence inter- viewed six Chinese turbine OEMs (which collectively held more than 75 per cent of Chinese market share in 2018), one foreign turbine OEM, one utility, one stock-listed independent power producer, fi ve- component suppliers and one material supplier based in China. GWEC concluded that while the virus will impact supply chain and installation operations, the slow- down will not be as signifi cant as reported by some industry observ- ers (for example predicting a halv- ing of China’s installations in 2020). China has the largest wind power capacity in the world. In 2018, China and North America combined made up about 50 per cent of the world’s total installed wind generation capacity. The major Chinese turbine OEMs (Goldwind, Envision, Min- gyang, Shanghai Electric, CSIC Haizhuang, DEC and CRRC) and three foreign turbine OEMs (Vestas, Siemens Gamesa and GE Renewable Energy) all reported In addition, the project is expected to have a direct benefi t on business volumes for local ser- vices, materials and contracting such as accommodation, food and other retail businesses in the area. This is the second PPA signed by FRV with Snowy Hydro follow- ing the successful bid for the 68.7 MWac Goonumbla Solar Farm as part of the Snowy Hydro Renew- able Energy Procurement Pro- gram in 2018, and which is cur- rently in the fi nal stages of con- struction. “Together with our partners, FRV and Snowy Hydro, Abdul Latif Jameel is committed to playing an active role in developing clean energy solutions and ultimately contributing to create a more sus- tainable future for the world,” said Fady Jameel, deputy president of Abdul Latif Jameel. they resumed production in the week beginning Feb. 10. Other component manufactur- ers – including NGC, Winergy, ZF (wind gearbox producers), Yongji (China’s largest generator sup- plier) and Vertiv (a wind power converter exporter) – also con- fi rmed that they resumed opera- tions in the same week. NEWS 6 Utilities Middle East / April 2020 www.utilities-me.comTabreed shareholders approve 10.5 fils dividend per share for 2019 The shareholders of the National Central Cooling Company PJSC (DFM: TABREED), the leading UAE- based international district cooling developer, have approved a dividend of 10.5 fi ls per share for the fi nancial year ending 31 December 2019. This represents a 11% increase on the previous year’s pay out, highlighting Tabreed’s growth in 2019 and refl ecting its growing presence locally, regionally and internationally. The dividend was approved by the shareholders at the company’s Annual General Assembly (AGA), chaired by Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Tabreed’s Chairman, and attended by shareholders and members of Tabreed’s Board of Directors. During the AGA, elections were held to elect the new Board of the Company for a period of three years, and the outcome of the shareholder vote resulted in all previous members of the Board of Directors being re-elected to their positions. Refl ecting the company’s stellar full-year performance, Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Tabreed’s Chairman, said: “In 2019, Tabreed delivered a net profi t increase of 11% percent.” Initiated by TRANSCO, the proj- ect includes a range of ABB prod- ucts and solutions necessary to achieve a complete ‘end-to-end’ digital substation solution. It introduces new and innovative fully digital control, protection and communication features for mis- sion-critical applications and is part of wider innovation enabling the digital transformation of the power industry. “As an innovative, world-class provider of sustainable water and electricity transmission ser- UAE rolls out new substation digital solution Expected to pave the way for greater adoption of digital substation technologies across the Middle East ABB will deliver a fi rst-of-its-kind ‘substation to substation’ digi- tal solution, as part of the 400 kilo- volt (kV) Al Dhafra switching sta- tion project. This is part of ABB’s its strategic relationship with Abu Dhabi Trans- mission and Despatch Company (TRANSCO). ABB will introduce a complete range of technologies and innovative concepts to the unique pilot project. As a key component of smart power grids, digital substations remove the last electrical connec- tion between high voltage equip- ment and protection and control equipment. The solution provides utilities with high quality data for faster and better-informed decision making and at the same time, enables a safer working environment. Substation Hydropower World Bank launches O&M handbook for hydropower Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable energy generation, with 1,300 GW of installed capacity The World Bank has released a new publication: Operation and Mainte- nance Strategies for Hydropower: Handbook for Practitioners and Decision Makers. The World Bank says this hand- book “seeks to raise awareness among utility managers, decision makers and other stakeholders of the importance and benefi ts of developing robust operation and maintenance strategies for existing and greenfi eld hydropower plants.” Hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable energy gen- eration, with 1,300 GW of installed capacity, the World Bank says. About 52 per cent of this capacity was installed before 1990, so these vices, TRANSCO is always look- ing to deploy new technologies to optimise our systems and oper- ations as we transition to a digi- talized grid. Through this collabo- ration with ABB, we are able to build on our reputation for secure, reli- able and economical transmission services, while embracing innova- tion and organizational excellence across our entire value chain,” said Dr. Salem Al Harthi, Projects Direc- tor, TRANSCO. “With the advancement in digi- tal substation technology, ABB and TRANSCO are pioneering a truly unique substation-to-substation solution that will better utilise the existing digital technology, whilst improving availability and reli- abilit,” said Dr. Mostafa AlGuezeri, MD, ABB Power Grids business, the UAE, Gulf and Near East. average cost of hydropower projects I 2018 was $0.047/kWh, making it the lowest-cost source of electricity in many markets. When well-maintained, hydro- power facilities can last for more than 100 years and operate for decades without major work. Hence it is essential to have robust O&M strategies in place, as plants that are allowed to deterio- rate require constant attention and frequent major refurbishment. The handbook provides guid- ance in preparing and implement- ing a long-term O&M strategy that includes objectives to be reached, activities and organizational deci- sions to reach these objectives. assets are prone to require major rehabilitation. Citing data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, the bank says hydro generated more than 4,200 TWh of electricity in 2018, accounting for more than 60 per cent of global new energy genera- tion. Additionally, the global weighted NEWS 8 Utilities Middle East / April 2020 www.utilities-me.comDEWA customers save Dh1.3bn in electricity and water conservation The conservation programmes and initiatives launched by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) have achieved cumulative savings of 2.2 terrawatthours (TWh) of electricity and 7.8 billion gallons of water between 2009 and 2019. This is equivalent to saving AED 1.3 billion and reducing 1.136 million tonnes of carbon emissions. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, praised the results achieved by DEWA’s customers. He emphasised that these numbers underline awareness among society members on the importance of protecting the environment and saving natural resources, through the sensible use of electricity and water. Al Tayer said that the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy aims to reduce demand by 30% by 2030, noting that Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad ESCO), a DEWA company, will retrofi t over 30,000 buildings in Dubai by 2030 to make them energy-effi cient. Between 2009 and 2019, savings in the commercial sector amounted to 1.3 TWh of electricity (10%) and 4.4 billion gallons of water (27%). storage. The $6m fi rst phase will get the project to fi nancial close and shovel ready for construction. RayGen will be working with AGL and GHD on this initial phase which will include technical and commer- cial feasibility studies, commercial assessment, a connection agree- ment, offtake agreements, capital raising and a planning permit for a preferred site. PV Ultra is a tower-mounted, con- centrated solar PV technology that combines low-cost solar collec- tion heliostats and high-effi ciency solar conversion via PV cells, creat- ing the ability to co-generate elec- tricity and heat. The heat by-prod- uct is captured and used to boost the effi ciency of the thermal stor- age element. The thermal storage technology 4MW solar - hydro power plant to be built Renewable energy startup RayGen is proposing to build a fully dispatchable renewable energy facility The Australian Renewable Agency (ARENA) has announced $3m in funding to RayGen Resources Pty Ltd (RayGen) to conduct a tech- nical and commercial feasibil- ity study for a 4 MW “solar hydro” power plant to be built in north- western Victoria. In a world-fi rst, the Melbourne based renewable energy startup RayGen is proposing to build a fully dispatchable renewable energy facility that will use their concen- trated solar PV technology known as PV Ultra. This technology will be combined with their Thermal Hydro technology to generate renewable energy and provide large scale energy storage. The grid-scale power plant is pro- posed to be built in Carwarp near Mildura capable of providing 4 MW of solar generation and 17 hours of Solar-hydropower District heating Solar district heating market to hit $7bn by 2025 Green buildings will support market penetration over the years Solar district heating market share is slated to witness remarkable growth prospects in the forthcom- ing years owing to stringent regula- tions set by the government to adopt sustainable energy forms in order to control carbon emission levels. Depleting climatic conditions on account of global warming along with the introduction of green build- ings will support market penetra- tion over the years. In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule that aimed at reducing the levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Rise in disposable income among people across developing nations such as China, India, Japan, stores energy as a temperature dif- ference between two water reser- voirs. The heat generated from the PV Ultra is used to charge the hot reservoir, whilst the cold reservoir is cooled using an electric chiller sup- plied with electricity from PV Ultra and the grid. The stored temperature differ- ence will power an Organic Rankine Cycle engine to generate electricity with a round trip effi ciency of 70%. The size of the storage reservoirs are readily scalable and the water will be recycled and reused. regarding the use of sustainable sources of energy will boost the need for a robust solar district heat- ing system. As per statistics furnished by United Nations, 55% of the global population is comprising of urban populace and is likely to increase to 68% by the end of 2050. According to reports, U.S. solar district heating industry size is esti- mated to showcase growth of more than 6% over 2019-2025. Surging investments towards the construction of residential and commercial infrastructures such as hotels, residential complexes, data centers, and manufacturing units will support the product demand over the years. Singapore, and Korea have steered construction of commercial and residential spaces. Additionally, increasing foreign investment in the region has accelerated the preva- lence of industries thereby spurring the demand for electricity. However, with the rising cost of electricity along with adequate awareness among the people NEWS www.utilities-me.com April 2020 / Utilities Middle East 9Next >