|
|
|
|
|
Game-Changing Smart Grid Solutions Will Shape Global Energy Future
Published Jan 18, 2012
|
With cities emitting close to 80% of all global carbon dioxide emissions, the way people plan, build and interact with the urban environment is irrevocably trending towards sustainable solutions.
By 2050, 70% of the world’s population – by then around 9.1 billion according to the UN – will live in cities, stretching traditional energy resources to breaking point.
The International Energy Agency predicts that global energy demand alone is projected to increase 36% by 2035 – a dramatic surge vividly reflected in the GCC, where demand for electrical power is expected to triple over the next 25 years.
Against a backdrop rife with worst case scenarios, the calls for game-changing overhauls of physical and digital infrastructure are growing ever louder, particularly in the Middle East where finite hydrocarbons overwhelmingly fuel both life and industry.
“ICT holds the key to reaping the benefits of a connected world of cities and a socially empowered population,” said Dr Maher Chebbo, VP EMEA, Utilities & Services Industries, SAP, who was speaking as the influential World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi entered its second day.
“Smart grids will take us to a place where utilities, service providers, devices and consumers are connected in an e-marketplace – a place where powerful data analysis can lower ecological footprints, reduce increased energy demand and help manage resources in closed loop systems.”
Smart grids are already proving increasingly influential in Europe, with 211 projects up and running and investment totalling $6.7 billion to date.
According to astudy by Pike Research, worldwide investments in smart grid infrastructure could amount to around $200 billion between 2008 and 2015.
Digital and eminently adaptable, smart grids are bidirectional and capable of meeting growing user demand to become proactive consumersthat manage and produce energy more efficiently, as well as reduce CO2 emissions.
They also obviate the need for electricity to flow from large central plants byintegrating scattered renewable energy production to the grid.
"At SAP, we are deeply committed to a leadership role in the development and application of ICT tools and technologies able to turn the smart grid vision into reality, building on our long-standing partnership with SAP energy actors on both the supply and demand sides of energy markets,” explained Chebbo, who is also Chairman of ETP SmartGrids “Demand, Metering & Retail” (EU) and Member of the EEGI (Electricity Grid Initiative) Executive Committee (EU).
SAP’s progressive stance on such technologies recently yielded SAP Smart Meter Analytics, which leverages SAP’s in-memory computing to take the mass of data hailing from meters, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and other sources and process it in real time.
Regarded as a vital cog in the smart grid arena, SAP’s revolutionary In-Memory computing technology, better known as HANA, has the astonishing potential to report 3600x faster than existing systems and analyse 460 billion data records in less than a second.
Elsewhere, SAP is establishing itself as a front-runner in mobility solutions that drive collaboration and markedly improve data accessibility.
SAP is an energy innovating veteran, having offered industry-specific software solutions to the energy sector since 1989 spanning each sub-vertical of utilities: power generators (GENCOS), transmission (TSO), distribution (DSO), suppliers and retailer, smart metering operators, data aggregators, as well as energy efficiency services to industrial and residential end-users.
Currently SAP’s Energy Utilities solution delivers the most powerful technology on the market, combining In-Memory Computing, Business Analytics, Mobility and Cloud Computing.
More than 2000 utilities in 70 countries around the globe use SAP® for Utilities solutions, representing a 65% market share. Recently, SAP was named the 2010 Smart Grid Integrator of the Year by the readers of the New Economy - World News Media. Furthermore, SAP is undertaking significant research and development in smart grids and related innovative energy services; in Europe alone, the company is participating in more than 15 strategic European and national collaborative energy research projects.
“Through ICT and smart grid innovation we will ensure that energy is no longer a commodity once it becomes optimized” Chebbo concluded.
“Cities and citizens become connected and empowered, Big Data becomes visible, mobile and powerful, and decision-makers are able to act as fast as their thoughts.”
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes andindustries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device– SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 176,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visitwww.sap.com.
Follow SAP on Twitter at@sapnews
Media contacts
Claire McPeak, +971 4 330 1777,c.mcpeak@sap.com
Neil Jaques, Wallis Marketing Consultants, +971 4390 1950,sap@wallis-mc.com
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
|
|
|
