Hitachi Energy rides HVDC boom
12 November 2024
The GCC region’s strong drive to decarbonise electricity generation, distribution and consumption has led to an increased demand for renewable energy and electric mobility, which in turn require strong, secure and reliable grids.
“The key issue [among stakeholders] is how to stabilise the grid and maintain its resilience to ensure safety and security of supply,” Bruno Melles, global managing director for the Transformers Business Unit at Zurich-headquartered Hitachi Energy, tells MEED.
Options to address this issue include offshore and onshore interconnections, particularly through high-voltage direct current (HVDC) networks, as well as the deployment of battery energy storage systems.
HVDCs are broadly considered more environment-friendly compared to their alternating current predecessors by allowing electricity transmission over long distances with minimal losses.
Several HVDC networks are under construction across the GCC states. The region’s first subsea power transmission network in Abu Dhabi replaces existing offshore gas turbine generators catering to Adnoc’s offshore operations with more sustainable power sources available in Abu Dhabi’s onshore power network.
The Saudi-Egypt interconnection is also underway. Once completed, it will enable the daily exchange of up to 3,000MW of electricity, opening up potential energy trade between the GCC and other countries in the Gulf, Africa and Europe.
Saudi Arabia also recently awarded a $5.3bn contract to interconnect its western, central and southern regions through an on-land HVDC network.
In addition, in May this year, Hitachi Energy signed agreements with Enowa, the utility arm of Saudi gigaproject developer Neom, to supply three HVDC transmission systems with a total capacity to transmit up to 9,000MW of electricity.
Discussions are under way for more of these types of projects, notes Melles, who says these projects reflect the need to integrate and secure the grid, particularly as more countries consider cross-border links and connecting their existing grids to remote renewable energy plants.
As interconnection investments grow, the need for digitalisation will also grow as utilities and transmission system operators seek more precise ways to manage their electrical loads and avoid waste.
Large users
The presence of industries with high power demands such as refining has been a distinguishing feature of most GCC states' power systems.
Most recently, the drive to deploy AI-based applications has spurred a boom in data centre construction particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
“We’re seeing plans to build data centres with load capacities of up to 1,000MW,” explains Melles, who points out that these facilities are fast becoming a major power utilisation point similar to other large industries.
The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres represent roughly 2% of global power consumption in 2022 and this is expected to more than double to 5% to 6%, according to various projections.
An increase in the large power user base, even as electrification increases, reinforces the need for more resilient grids that can deal with varying loads and distances and energy sources, according to Melles.
Meeting demand
Globally, transmission and distribution infrastructure buildout is expected to catch up with prolific investments to expand generation capacity as power and decarbonisation demands increase.
Across the GCC, an estimated 49,000MW of conventional and renewable energy power generation plants are under construction as of October this year. The project pipeline remains robust, with key jurisdictions such as Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi aiming for renewable sources to meet up to 50% of their electricity demand by the end of the decade.
The GCC region’s power transmission and distribution sector is also set to experience its best year in terms of the value of awarded contracts.
According to data from regional projects-tracking service MEED Projects, the total value of awarded contracts for substations, control centres, overhead lines and cables across the six GCC states reached an estimated $13.8bn between January and September 2024.
This figure already exceeds by 81% the total value of contracts awarded in the preceding full year.
To meet demand, Hitachi Energy, which supplies solutions ranging from large transformers, communication networks, cooling systems and cybersecurity to cable accessories, recently launched a $1.5bn programme to boost its transformer production capacity between 2024 and 2027.
“We need to scale up capacity and availability, and we are committing with our parts suppliers… to be able to supply [transformers] to the industry,” explains Melles.
Hitachi Energy is also, more crucially, investing in human resources as it expands its production capacity and presence globally. "We are investing in people across all skill levels in our company not just in our factories… because we believe resource constraints will be more serious than steel or copper constraints."
The executive notes that in addition to driving power demand, AI is a key development that suppliers like Hitachi Energy are following closely due to its potential to transform industries over time.
Current AI applications enable predictive maintenance and reliability, where they can analyse data from sensors and maintenance records to predict when equipment may fail.
The next stage, which Melles expects will cause widespread disruption, is when AI is applied to industrial process and engineering optimisation, which experts say may lead to increased efficiency, reduced resources and improved product quality, among others.
“AI offers a great opportunity if used properly,” the executive concludes.
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Hyundai E&C signs $725m Saudi high voltage deal
13 November 2024
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South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction (E&C) has won a KRW1tn ($725m) contract to build a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) network project in Saudi Arabia.
The contract forms part of a 1,089-kilometre (km), 500-kilovolt (kV) HVDC transmission line connecting Riyadh Power Plant 14 (PP14) to the Kudmi substation in southwest Saudi Arabia.
Related read: Interconnection vital to GCC energy future
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Hyundai E&C said the project will utilise a double bipole HVDC system with a power transmission capacity of 4,000MW.
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An HVDC system is often referred to as a 'power superhighway', transporting significantly more power over greater distances than the common high-voltage alternating current line, and incurs lower power losses.
The South Korean contractor said it has completed 35 transmission line projects in Saudi Arabia in the past 50 years.
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Chinese-led consortium wins $262m Algeria rail deal
13 November 2024
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Algeria’s Anesrif has awarded a $262m construction contract to a consortium led by the China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
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Contractors prepare prices for major Lower Zakum oil project
13 November 2024
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Contractors are preparing commercial bids for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on a major Adnoc Offshore project to boost oil production at the Lower Zakum offshore hydrocarbons concession in Abu Dhabi.
The Lower Zakum hydrocarbons zone is located 65 kilometres northwest of Abu Dhabi in the Gulf’s waters. The offshore arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Offshore) holds the majority 60% stake in the Lower Zakum asset. Foreign partners include an Indian consortium of companies led by ONGC Videsh (10%), Japan’s Inpex Corporation (10%), China National Petroleum Corporation (10%), Italy’s Eni (5%) and France’s TotalEnergies (5%).
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MEED previously reported that contractors submitted technical bids for the project by 14 August.
Adnoc Offshore issued the main EPC tender for the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project in March, MEED reported.
Adnoc Offshore intends to award EPC contracts for the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project by the end of the year, sources told MEED.
Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project
Adnoc Offshore has divided the scope of work on the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project into three EPC packages:
Topside facilities on G Island – Civil works on process facilities and associated buildings on the artificial greenfield G Island.
Process facilities include well pads, inlet and export reception, production separation, export pumps, gas compression, dehydration and lift, produced water treatment and disposal, vapour recovery units, water injection units, riser tower, flare towers, accommodation, drilling of high-pressure flare knock out drum, power distribution facility, substations and local equipment rooms.
Offshore WHTs and pipelines – Seven WHTs will be installed: six in the east area, and one in the AGI area. Five of the WHTs are to be 16-slot, while the other two are to be nine-slot.
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Adnoc Offshore began the main contract prequalification process for the EPC works on the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project in March 2023. Contractors were initially asked to submit expression of interest documents by 10 April that year, with the deadline extended to 27 April.
Adnoc Offshore started an early engagement process for the main EPC tendering process on the Lower Zakum LTDP-1 project in the fourth quarter of last year.
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Hatta hydropower plant heads for trial operation
13 November 2024
Construction work on Dubai’s Hatta pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant is 94.15% complete, and generator installations are under way in preparation for a trial operation in the first quarter of 2025.
According to the state utility, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa), the plant’s upper dam, which includes a 72-metre-high main wall and a 37-metre-high side dam, has also been filled.
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The state utility awarded the contract to build the plant to a consortium of Austrian firms Strabag and Andritz and Turkey’s Ozkar in August 2019.
Dewa said on 12 November that the AED1.421bn ($387m) project is expected to be fully completed by the end of the second quarter of 2025.
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To store energy, clean power generated at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park will be used to pump water back to the upper dam, converting electrical power into kinetic energy during the process.
Dewa said the project is part of a comprehensive vision to develop Hatta and enhance its sustainable development, including the creation of job opportunities for Emiratis.
It added that the project “also supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy and the Dubai Net Zero Carbon Emissions Strategy 2050”.
Through the project, Dewa aims to diversify energy production from renewable and clean sources in Dubai. These include different available technologies, such as solar photovoltaic panels and concentrated solar power, as well as the use of renewable energy to produce green hydrogen.
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