As part of the 2014-2035 smart grid strategy, DEWA replaced existing electricity and water meters with smart meters between 2015 and 2020. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) has invested US$1.9bn on implementing its updated smart grid strategy for 2021-2035

AMEA Power was awarded two solar sites, located respectively in Taroudant. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development have announced that AMEA Power has been awarded two solar power plant projects of 36MW each, following an international tender

The solar projects were part of a large international tender launched by Masen and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development in February 2021 for the construction of the first phase of the Noor PV II program, a multi-site solar energy program with a total capacity of 330MW. Such programme intends to supply green and competitive electricity to large industrial companies established in Morocco under the 13-09 legal framework.

AMEA Power was awarded two solar sites, located respectively in Taroudant, in the Souss-Massa region and in El Hajeb, in the F?s-Mekn?s region.

Following the announcement, Hussain Al Nowais  chairman of AMEA Power, said, ?Being awarded a total capacity of 72MW in Morocco is another great milestone for AMEA Power. Morocco is a significant market for us, as it has established itself as a regional leader in clean energy pushing forward large-scale renewable energy projects. The Noor PV II program supports Morocco?s target to increase its renewables share to 52% by 2030, and we look forward to supporting the country in achieving its objective and diversifying its energy mix.? 

The project will have a production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes a year of green ammonia. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

A consortium of Saudi Arabia?s ACWA Power and US-based Air Products has signed the US$900mn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the planned US$5bn green hydrogen and green ammonia project at Neom in Saudi Arabia

Networking gateways from HMS are well-suited for use in BESS. (Image source: HMS)

HMS Networks is giving numerous communication solutions for the expanding battery market in order to solve the energy crisis

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) require communication capabilities to connect to batteries and peripheral components, communicate with the power grid and monitor systems remotely. BESS is one of the keys to make the world more sustainable. Since green energy sources such as wind and solar are not always available, large battery parks can make it possible to store the energy to use when there is less sun or wind. BESS are made up of battery cells that are combined into battery packs. They are then combined into containers and can make up battery parks the size of several football fields. The systems can use new or recycled batteries and combine many different components. However, these large battery parks need a lot of communication capabilities in order to work. HMS now presents a comprehensive package of communication solutions catered for this application area.

Since the battery market has been spearheaded by the car industry, CAN is the communication standard of choice in many systems. Here, HMS offers an extensive portfolio of communication solutions via the Ixxat brand for PC connection, networking, line extension, galvanic isolation and more. In networking, the protection of components is crucial, both from external sources (like lightning strikes) and from system-related issues (AC/DC noise). 

BESS often combine a variety of different equipment from different industries within a single application ? batteries, BMS, PLCs, fire detection units or air conditioning. CAN, Modbus, BACnet, KNX and other protocols can be easily linked via intelligent gateways from HMS, which handle the all-important data exchange while also enabling centralised control. Intelligent networking is also required in order to connect to cloud solutions or SCADA systems. This connection can be made by using SG (Smart Grid) gateways from HMS that support both energy and industrial fieldbus protocols, as well as protocols required for cloud connection.

The SG gateways enable centralised control as well as remote access for predictive maintenance, logging or data visualisation using the i4SCADA solution from the HMS-owned company WEBfactory.