Latest news with #powergrid
Gulf Business
7 hours ago
- Business
- Gulf Business
New $205m agreement to boost UAE-GCC power grid interconnection
Image courtesy: WAM/ For illustrative purposes Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has signed a Dhs752m ($205m) financing agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) to support the expansion of the GCC power grid interconnection with the UAE's national electricity network, state news agency WAM reported. The agreement, signed at The infrastructure project forms part of broader efforts to enhance regional energy resilience and enable wider economic and developmental integration, aligning with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050. The strategy aims to create an energy system that is both sustainable and economically efficient. Initiative will increase electricity transmission capacity between UAE and GCC Designed as a strategic grid upgrade, the initiative will significantly increase electricity transmission capacity between the UAE and the GCC network. Technical and economic feasibility studies have supported its design, in line with the GCCIA's vision for a durable, regionally connected power infrastructure. The project includes the construction of a 400kV double-circuit overhead transmission line spanning 96 kilometres, connecting the Al Silaa substation in the UAE with the Salwa substation in Saudi Arabia. It also entails the expansion of three substations — Gonan, Al Silaa, and Salwa — and the installation of advanced 400kV switchgears, circuit breakers, and reactors, along with modern protection and control systems to enhance grid efficiency and reliability. 'This project reflects ADFD's commitment to financing high-impact infrastructure that supports the UAE's development priorities,' said Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, director-general of ADFD. 'Power grid interconnection is a strategic enabler of energy security and a foundation for accelerating the transition to He added that the project would 'increase the efficiency of the power grid, improve emergency preparedness, strengthen connectivity with regional partners, and promote the integration of renewable energy,' supporting the GCC's sustainability and emissions reduction goals. Engineer Ahmed Ali Al Ebrahim, CEO of the GCCIA. called the initiative the first phase of a broader collaboration with ADFD during the current grid expansion and noted parallel efforts to interconnect with Kuwait, Oman, and southern Iraq, representing a total investment exceeding $1bn. 'By leveraging increased transmission capacity, we aim to activate a unified Gulf electricity market to facilitate cross-border power trade,' Al Ebrahim said. 'This could create economic opportunities projected to exceed $20bn over the next 15 years.'
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Sifang Hosts Landmark Power Technology Forum: Global Experts Chart Path for Grid Modernization
MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Media OutReach Newswire - 27 June 2025 - The "New Technology of Power System" forum concluded today in Manila, emerging as a pivotal platform for international dialogue on energy innovation. Co-hosted by Beijing Sifang Automation Company and the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines (IIEE), the summit drew industry leaders, technical experts, to address challenges facing modern power grids. The event boasted a distinguished roster of attendees, including Engineer Alberto R. Herrera Jr., National President of IIEE, Engineer Cleofe T. Caidic, IIEE's Technical Affairs Vice President,and executives from Beijing Sifang Automation Company, including Chairwoman Gao Xiuhuan, Vice President Liu Shu and President Assistant Zhang Xing, joined forces with Leaders and representatives of National Grid Corporation of the Philippines(NGCP), The Manila Electric Company (Meralco), State Nuclear Electric Power Planning Design & Research Institute Philippines, Northeast Electric Power First Engineering Philippines., and other representatives from utilities, EPC, developer, and the media rounded out the audience. Kicking off the forum, Ms. Gao Xiuhuan's opening address underscored technology's role in global energy transitions, setting the stage for technical deep-dives. Engineer Herrera followed with a call to action on cross-industry collaboration, while Engineer Caidic's keynote "Empowering the Grid" outlined Philippine strategies for infrastructure upgrades through technical training and standardization. The following keynote speeches of the day are given by technical elites from Sifang. Ms. Li Wei proposed HVDC solutions for the Philippines' archipelagic grid challenges. Mr. Wang Jikang shared insights on STATCOM and grid-forming technologies for renewable integration. Mr. Zou Dengfeng discussed EMS/DMS applications for green grid stability. Ms. Zhang Jiamei advocated for wide-area monitoring systems based on her Imperial College research. Mr. Xu Kehan addressed relay protection innovations for modern power systems. Mr. Luo Nuo wrapped the forum with "Generation-Grid-Load-Storage Monitoring and Control", emphasizing the need for unified control systems. "We see this forum as a very good chance to make friends, share views, and take good advice" said Ms. Gao in her opening remarks," In the future, we will dedicate ourselves to making more contributions to the Philippines' power systems". The forum concluded with an evening gala, where bilateral discussions laid groundwork for future tech transfers and joint R&D. Beijing Sifang Automation Company, as a leading force in power automation technology within China and a globally recognized innovator in the field, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Beijing, China, has established branches in several overseas locations, including India, the Philippines, and Kenya. Sifang provides products and solutions across various sectors of the power system, covering generation, transmission, distribution, consumption, and storage. Its offerings include protection, automation, power electronics, switchgear, energy storage, and smart IoT. Currently, SIFANG's products are distributed globally, with exports to over 90 countries across Southeast Asia,Central Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. More than 2 million intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) and tens of thousands of automation systems are operating safely and reliably in domestic and international markets. Hashtag: #Sifang The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Beijing Sifang Automation Company
Forbes
2 days ago
- Climate
- Forbes
How To Stay Cool In A Post-Climate World
A man cools himself with a garden hose during a heat wave. Power grids from the Midwest to the Southeast have taken emergency action this week as an early-season heat dome brought an extended period of hot and humid weather to America's most populous region. The science team at nonprofit news organization Climate Central found that climate change made the present spell of hot weather four to five times more likely. The largest grid operator in the U.S., the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) Interconnection, which coordinates the transmission of electricity to roughly 20% of the U.S. population in 13 states and the District of Columbia, issued an alert that power usage is likely to hit a 14-year high this week. The alert advises electrical generation facilities to delay maintenance and repair outages due to the heavy load and informs clients that it will undertake 'demand response' initiatives through VPPs like Sonnen and Renew Home—companies which we have covered in this column. The Interconnection, which maintains approximately 179 gigawatts of total generation capacity and nearly 8 GW of demand response capacity, anticipated a load of 160 GW—around 86% of its total capacity. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy issued an emergency declaration for the Carolinas allowing Duke Energy to exceed pollution limits at its power plants to meet the load brought about by the heatwave. While summer heatwaves are not unusual, this one came early in the season and is severe enough to prompt action by grid operators and the U.S. government. The scientists at Climate Central have developed an online climate shift index application that calculates the increased likelihood of temperature extremes due to climate change. According to Climate Central's explanation, 'The Climate Shift Index (CSI) reveals how much climate change influences the temperature on a particular day. The index ranges from -5 to +5 with positive levels indicating temperatures that are becoming more likely due to climate change (negative scores indicate conditions that are becoming less likely). For levels at 2 or above, the Index is a multiple of how frequently a particular temperature will occur due to climate change.' The CSI estimates the current Midwest and East Coast heatwave has been roughly four to five times more likely due to the effects of human-induced carbon cycle imbalances. Climate Central's Climate Shift Index for the U.S. on June 24, 2025 This analysis highlights the extent to which climate change is already affecting our daily lives. I often hear people speculate as to climate change's effects on their children or grandchildren while overlooking the radical imbalance of the planet's carbon cycle already incurred by 150 years of burning fossil fuels. Climate change's impacts on civilization are no longer abstract projections to be suffered by future generations; if we take the trouble to look for them, we find that those impacts have already arrived. We are living in a 'post-climate' world. This week's early-season heatwave illustrates the vicious cycle in which we are now trapped. People crank up their air conditioning in rising temperatures. Utilities, straining to accommodate the additional power demand, crank up coal- and natural gas-burning facilities, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making the atmosphere more insulating, and further raising temperatures. Now consider that this vicious cycle is playing out across the globe. Climate Central's Climate Shift Index for the globe on June 24, 2025 Everyone living in the dark rust-colored parts of the map above is experiencing unseasonably hot weather made four to five times more likely due to climate change. Outside of the U.S., many in those dark rust-colored areas live in developing countries with rapidly expanding urban areas subject to the urban heat island effect. People in developing countries are no less desperate for the relief of air conditioning than people on the East Coast of the U.S. and are increasingly able to afford this luxury. There are ways to break out of this vicious cycle, but they are not simple. One featured earlier this month in this column is Dr. Lorenzo Kristov's proposal to shift power generation and distribution to regionally distributed self-reliant mini-grids. Another is reducing fossil fuel generation demand through energy efficiency improvements in homes and commercial buildings. Yet another is increasing the livability of underserved neighborhoods through tree planting and the establishment of energy-efficient community cooling centers. One point that bears stating: Cutting funding to federal agencies like NOAA and the National Weather Service risks lives during extreme weather events and threatens the stability of our electrical grid. The emergency measures taken by PJM and the Department of Energy this week were made possible by forecasts born from the hard work done daily at these agencies. Maintaining our government's capacity to understand how a changing climate will manifest itself through extreme weather events like heat domes and predicting these events before they occur is essential in this post-climate world.
Arabian Business
2 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Business
UAE backs $205m grid project with GCC as it eyes $20bn energy market
The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has signed a financing agreement worth AED752m ($205m) with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) to expand the GCC power grid and connect it more closely with the UAE's national electricity network. Signed in Abu Dhabi, the agreement aims to bolster regional energy security, enhance grid reliability, and support clean energy integration. The project also aligns with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which focuses on creating a sustainable and efficient energy system to support long-term economic growth. UAE grid project highlights A new 400kV double-circuit overhead transmission line will stretch 96km, linking the Al Silaa substation in the UAE to the Salwa substation in Saudi Arabia Upgrades will be made to substations in Gonan, Al Silaa, and Salwa, including the installation of advanced 400kV switchgears, circuit breakers, and protection systems The project aims to improve electricity transmission capacity, grid efficiency, and emergency preparedness across the region Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of ADFD, said: 'The project reflects ADFD's commitment to financing high-impact infrastructure that supports the UAE's development priorities. Power grid interconnection is a strategic enabler of energy security and a foundation for accelerating the transition to clean and sustainable energy sources. 'Our collaboration with the GCC Interconnection Authority is a practical example of regional energy integration. 'The project will increase the efficiency of the power grid, improve emergency preparedness, strengthen connectivity with regional partners, and promote the integration of renewable energy into a unified network, reinforcing the GCC's collective commitment to sustainable goals and emissions reduction targets.' Ahmed Ali Al Ebrahim, CEO of GCCIA, said this marks the first phase of a broader regional grid expansion, with additional connections planned for Kuwait, Oman, and southern Iraq. He said these efforts will unlock an estimated $20bn in economic value from regional power trade over the next 15 years. He said: 'These projects represent a total investment of over $1bn. By leveraging increased transmission capacity, we aim to activate a unified Gulf electricity market to facilitate cross-border power trade, creating significant economic value, with projected opportunities exceeding $20bn over the next 15 years.'
CNN
3 days ago
- Climate
- CNN
US heat wave exposes infrastructure, health vulnerabilities – and it's not quite over yet
Buckled roads. Broken bridges. Delayed trains. Strained power grids that led to dangerous outages. Cases of heat illness and canceled sporting events. These were just a few of the effects from this week's oppressive heat wave, which brought the hottest day in over a decade on Tuesday. As previous disasters have laid bare the United States' vulnerabilities to other types of extreme weather, this week is revealing strains in the country's infrastructure and highlighting the public health risks when faced with such record-breaking heat. The heat wave comes as the odds of extreme heat events globally are growing steeply as the world warms, along with their severity and duration. As global average temperatures increase, heat waves are the type of extreme weather event that scientists can most reliably tie to climate change caused by fossil fuel pollution. And this week's isn't over yet: Nearly 100 daily temperature records are threatened on Wednesday and heat indices are likely to reach the triple-digits along large portions of the East Coast. About 125 million people are still under extreme heat warnings and advisories on Wednesday. When this heat wave began to build over the weekend, roads buckled in South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa as the asphalt baked in the hot sun. On Monday, passengers had to be rescued from an Amtrak stuck in a Baltimore tunnel with no air conditioning. Widespread speed restrictions were put in place along multiple Amtrak routes due to the tendency for the heat to warp rail tracks, along with the potential for electrical outages. Numerous trains were canceled outright due to the weather. More roads cracked in the East Coast as the heat persisted, including interstates in New Jersey. In New York City, subway platforms were transformed into saunas as temperatures in some areas soared to record levels for June, accompanied by sultry levels of humidity. In Massachusetts, the heat rendered some swing bridges inoperable. Heat waves are the deadliest form of extreme weather in the US, according to the National Weather Service, and while the full extent of any deaths or health impacts from this heat may take weeks or longer to become known, there have been prominent instances of heat-related illnesses. At least one death is being blamed on the heat in the St. Louis area, where a woman was reportedly living without water or air conditioning access for three days, police said. Sixteen people were sent to the hospital and over 150 were evaluated for heat-related illnesses during two high school graduations in Paterson, New Jersey. In Washington, DC, a K-Pop concert ended early due to a slew of heat-related health incidents on Monday night. And the Washington Monument remains closed on Wednesday due to the hot weather. Multiple hospitals, including in New York City and Chicago, had trouble maintaining their power and air conditioning systems, leading to stifling conditions. In New York, utility company Con Edison urged residents to conserve power to avoid rolling outages. Young hikers had to be rescued in New Hampshire due to heat-related injuries, and in Norfolk, Massachusetts, at least two firefighters were hospitalized due to exhaustion while battling flames in record hot conditions. And temperatures were so hot in Charlotte, North Carolina, that athletes competing in FIFA Club World Cup games on Tuesday watched their teams play from inside the locker room while on the substitute bench, German pro soccer team Bayern Munich said in a post on X. The heat peaked on Tuesday in many locations, with monthly records toppled from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic. In Augusta, Maine, the high temperature on Tuesday reached 100 degrees, its hottest on record for June and tying the state capital's all-time high temperature record. Boston reached 102 degrees, setting a new June high temperature record. Tuesday is now tied for the third-hottest day on record for the city – any other days that have been as hot or hotter all occurred in July or August. Philadelphia also marked its first 100-degree temperature reading since 2012, reaching 101 degrees Tuesday and setting the record for the city's hottest-ever day this early in the summer. The city broke Monday's daily high temperature record when it reached 99 degrees. Records also fell in Providence, Rhode Island, where temperatures reached 100 degrees – a new high for June high. Meanwhile, Newark, New Jersey, reached 103 degrees, tying the June high temperature record. In parts of New York City, temperatures climbed above the three-digit mark. John F. Kennedy International Airport, in Queens, hit 102 degrees on Monday afternoon – the first time since 2011 and the first time ever in the month of June. LaGuardia Airport, also in Queens, saw a high temperature of 101 degrees, tying its record for the month of June. Forecast high temperatures for these locations on Wednesday are in the mid-to-upper 90s, with heat indices exceeding 100 degrees. Studies have shown heat extremes have clear ties to global warming, as their likelihood and severity also increases significantly as global average temperature rises. An analysis by the climate research nonprofit Climate Central found climate change made Tuesday's extreme heat in the Mid-Atlantic at least five times more likely to occur when compared with a modeled world without emissions from burning fossil fuels. 'There is no uncertainty around the fact that climate change makes heatwaves more intense and more frequent,' said climate scientist Fredi Otto, who leads an international group, World Weather Attribution, that examines extreme weather events and their potential climate change ties. 'We've always had dangerous heat, but in our warming world, that heat is pushing to new levels and extremes,' said Bernadette Woods Placky, chief meteorologist at Climate Central. As scientists continue to examine the ties between extreme weather and climate change, the link is becoming clearer. 'Nearly all extreme heat events that have been analyzed show an influence from climate change–meaning that climate change pushed the heat to new extremes, and often for longer periods of time,' she told CNN. CNN's Rebekah Riess and CNN Meteorologist Linda Lam contributed to this report.
