Siemens secures new order for grid control, smart metering infrastructure in Egypt
Siemens has been awarded a new contract to establish a distribution management system and advanced metering infrastructure for North Delta Electricity Distribution Company (NDEDC). As a subsidiary of the state-owned utility Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), NDEDC is responsible for the distribution network of the Daqahleya, Damietta and Kafr El-Sheikh governorates and serves about 4.5 million electrical subscribers. Siemens will be implementing an ADMS control center for the Damietta region. This project is funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and has a value of about EUR 40 million and is known as Lot 3. Siemens already received an order with a similar scope for Egypt´s Alexandria region in September 2022.
“The electrical grid plays a key role in Egypt’s initiatives for economic growth; a secure power supply is at the heart of its expanding economy,” says Sabine Erlinghagen, CEO of Grid Software at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “We are very pleased that Siemens has been chosen to supply software to NDEDC’s distribution grid. With our modular software approach, we can design an integrated IT and OT system by integrating grid control software with simulation software, supporting informed decision-making and operational optimisation to effectively reduce the cost of the distribution grid while keeping the lights on.”
Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, has praised the fruitful cooperation with Siemens and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in executing many projects in the electricity sector in Egypt. He also referred that today’s agreement falls within a national plan for establishing a number of control centres, in light of the presidential directives to promote the efficiency of transmission and distribution grids in different electricity distribution companies all over Egypt.
Additionally, the control centres aim to enhance performance, quality, and stability of the power supply, by relying on the most advanced IT applications and smart systems to ensure smart management of grids.
Dr. Shaker also explained that the smart grids are a major leap in the transmission and distribution sector, which increasingly relies on renewables to make the best utilisation of electricity, while reducing production costs. The future outlook of the Egyptian electricity sector is focusing on migration from conventional to smart grids gradually. The upgrading project entails the establishment of a medium-voltage ADMS control centre and a smart metering system for Damietta region. The new system aims to raise the grid efficiency, by remotely controlling the grid operations in real-time, to address power outages simultaneously and reconnect electricity as soon as possible, to ensure sustainable power supply.
“We are very proud to be awarded this new contract with the North Delta Electricity Distribution Company (NDEDC) to modernise the electrical grid. This award confirms Siemens’ commitment to continue to accelerate world-class technology adoption in Egypt,” says Mostafa El-Bagoury, Siemens Egypt CEO. “We are also pleased to work again with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency in Egypt. This project aims to raise the efficiency of the energy distribution system, reduce energy losses and power outages, improve service quality, and transform the electricity distribution network into a smart network.”
In addition to the ADMS system, 175,000 smart meters will be supplied, to establish an advanced metering infrastructure. Following the partnership agreement signed with ESRI in July 2022, Siemens will also be delivering ESRI’s Geographical Information System (GIS) within the scope of the project.
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