File picture used for representation.
Doha: President of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, has said that all Kahramaa meters will go smart by the end of 2020.
“Customers’ engagement has improved with the Advanced Metering Infrastructure project. Over 360,000 smart meters are installed in our grid, connected with multiple smart technologies, including fibre optics,” said Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari.
Al Kuwari, who is also Chairman of the Smart Grid Centre at Texas A&M, was speaking at the opening ceremony of the Second Conference on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (SGRE2019) at the Hilton Hotel.
The event was attended by Eng. Ahmed Mohamed Al Sada, Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs at the Ministry of Municipality and the Environment. The two-day event is being organised by Kahramaa and Texas A&M University with the objective to generate a long-term smart grid research agenda with renewable energy adaptation.
Kahramaa President said that the economic and digital growth of the country increases energy demand and it creates a need for an efficient energy infrastructure. “Smart, innovative grids are key to the energy transformation required to meet Qatar’s climate and energy responsibilities,” said Al Kuwari.
Eng. Ahmed Mohamed Al Sada, Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs at MME, and Eng. Essa bin Hilal Al Kuwari, President of Kahramaa, with guests and participants during the opening ceremony of the second conference on SGRE2019, yesterday, at the Hilton Hotel.
“Kahramaa has finished its smart grid roadmap in collaboration with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and TEXAS A&M at Qatar. Our smart grid vision is to transform Qatar’s Grid into a secure, sustainable and digitally enabled grid that provides reliable and quality energy for our stakeholders by 2026,” said Al Kuwari.
“A successful example of Kahramaa’s grid upgrade is a condition monitoring project of all substations, which achieved net savings of $36m and reduced faults by over 50 percent since 2018,” said Al Kuwari.
He said that Kahramaa’s smart efforts also include water sustainability and quality. He said that Qatar is committed to the Paris Agreement Goals to combat climate change and to mitigate green-house emissions effects. “Qatar is currently preparing the first ‘carbon neutral’ FIFA World Cup 2022. This is done by offsetting harmful emissions by applying sustainable processes such as the 40 percent energy-saving cooling technology in stadiums,” said Al Kuwari.
Qatar has a set of goals to increase the share of renewable energy. “In this regard, Kahramaa will install the first mega photovoltaic station in Qatar with a capacity of 700 Mega Watt in 2022,” he added.
“Kahramaa is currently installing a network of electric vehicle charging stations. This includes installing the first photovoltaic energy storage EV charging station as well as the first e-buses charging units in Qatar,” said Al Kuwari.
