Em(Power)ed Smart Cities: A Sketch of Clean Electricity in the UAE

A self-executing, customised and tamper-proof power grid, could be a key driver for enabling the transition to a more efficient, transparent and transactive energy market. Enhancing the quality of life is at the heart of everything sustainable. Take the city of Al Ain for example, where the Al Ain City Municipality and AI company Saal are collaborating on research to further deliver innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis that works to the benefit of the citizenry.

According to ReGlobal, “UAE has one of the highest solar exposure rates in the world, giving it tremendous potential for renewable energy development.”

Optimal use of electricity generated renewable energy sources, Gabor Eisenbart, Founder of SunMoney Solar Group highlights the importance of having a transparent and a real-time monitored electricity grid which would potentially save time and financial resources, “The procurement and installation of IoT devices for smart grid is ongoing. IoT devices are becoming cheaper and therefore they are expected to spread rapidly in the region. The integration of these devices into the grids will be a natural next step in the evolution of electricity networks in a few years.”

Smart grids are a good bet at mitigating the issue of carbon neutrality and its flexibility will reduce future costs. As the demand for energy keeps increasing, local areas would be in need of the construction of thousands of kilometres of transmission lines and hundreds of substations, should the concept of traditional grids be applied. On the other hand when it comes to smart grids, it can be employed to expand already existing grid lines rather comfortably.

Given the abundance of solar power in the Middle East, should one look at smart architecture, it would encourage the deployment of energy storage, and distributed renewable energy generation. In this case rooftop solar creates an efficient, clean and resilient urban energy network.

However, smart integration of existing technologies with newer and advanced ones in the power sector means that this will also increase the dependence on natural gas which must be reliably produced. Statistically speaking, should we look at the current status, UAE has been extremely successful in its quest to produce sufficient LNG.

In 2021, UAE was the world’s 12th-largest LNG producer last year, making it a relatively small global player. In 2022, things changed significantly with a whopping $20 billion investment to develop more of its natural gas resources which means that the country is slated to be self-sufficient by 2030 in terms of its natural gas requirements. This one figure has turned the UAE from one of the world’s largest importers of natural gas to one of the world’s largest exporters.

According to a recent report, “The LNG facility, to be built at Fujairah on the United Arab Emirates’ coast outside the Persian Gulf, will be able to produce as much as 9.6 million tons a year. The UAE currently has three liquefaction trains with a combined capacity of 5.8 mtpa at Das Island, which is located inside the Gulf.”

All this means that better smart grid solutions can be worked out for the Middle East and specially the UAE if the investments continue to rise in renewable sources.