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PHOTOS: ees and Intersolar Middle East Conference at Middle East Electricity in Dubai.

ENERGY STORAGE DEPLOYMENT IN

MIDDLE EAST IS A QUESTION OF WHEN

IN THE MIDDLE EAST POWER HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN SOURCED FROM FOSSIL
FUELS OR INTERCONNECTORS FROM NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES. BUT WHAT
NEXT FOR A REGION STILL IN ITS INFANCY IN TERMS OF RENEWABLE POWER AND
ENERGY STORAGE DEPLOYMENT?

In the Middle East and North Africa security of supply and reli- The 108 MW VPP will secure additional power supply for six
ability is a key concern. A solution to the problem is the area’s hours at a time when the solar power plant, Noor Abu Dhabi,
vast renewable expansion, with solar predicted to reach 6.4 comes online with 1.2 GW of renewables in the second quar-
GW by 2021 — up from 2.7 GW last year; annual supply from ter of this year.
wind is set to rise to 2.7GW in the next three years. The country has also opened a smart grid station in Al Ru-
A number of gigawatt-scale renewable projects are leading wayyah, Dubai, which includes 200 kW of photovoltaic pow-
to the integration of storage for a range of grid services from er, a 9kW wind turbine and a 500 KWh lithium ion storage
ancillary, short term (up to a few minutes), to peak shaving, system. The system uses thermal ESS to store surplus energy.
mid-term (up to two hours), and long term (up to six hours) Back in 2015, 2 MW of nickel batteries were installed at
for peak shifting. Dukhan Oil Field, Qatar. The 40,000 battery plus solar pow-
The most notable projects to date are in the United Arab Emi- er system is used for back-up power and renewable energy
rates and Qatar. The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority smoothing services.
has delivered two systems: the biggest, in 2015, is a 120 MW
sodium sulfur system in 4 MW or 8 MW systems at various 33 Building on its future
kV/11 kV substations across their distribution network. Elsewhere the region is in different stages of energy storage
Most recently the country’s Abu Dhabi Department of Energy installations, with a number of projects announced or con-
delivered the region’s first grid-scale virtual power plant system tracted. These include: Jordan (54 MW), Saudi Arabia (around
and the first integrated control system for energy storage in 1 MW), and United Arab Emirates (108 MW).
Abu Dhabi. As the cost of lithium ion batteries fall — by as much as
50% between 2017-225, according to Apricum — energy
➔ EES MIDDLE EAST CONFERENCE storage will become an increasingly applied solution to boost
the penetration of renewable energy at prices that are com-
petitive to alternatives such as fossil fuel. A 2017 report by
Date: March 3 —5, 2020 the consultancy firm stated that renewable energy had alrea-
Venue: Dubai World Trade Center
dy reached 0.26 US cents per kWh.
The conference provides insights into the dynamics of Three drivers to success
renewable energies, emphasizing how various technologies When it comes to storage growth in the region, there are
can produce synergies and, in turn, create an integrated
energy system. three principal drivers: demand, competiveness and frame-
The conference is a must-visit for those who want to works.
get the inside track, a comprehensive overview of the The first will be driven by renewable energy expansion, the
global energy transition and its potential benefits for their second by declining energy storage costs and the third with
company. power purchase agreements like those seen at the Al-Mafraq
solar-plus 12 MWh ESS plant in Jordan.

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