2009-01-21 - ABB’s energy-efficient technologies have grabbed the attention of top local and international companies at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2009.
The second World Future Energy Summit (WFES) saw hundreds of key companies - from all industry sectors – visit ABB’s high-tech stand to learn more about its HVDC technology, solar tracker, i-bus KNX intelligent system and carbon capture solutions.
Close to 350 key business contacts - with both local and international companies - were made by the hard-working ABB team during the show, which included represenatives from all five divisions.
Ain G. Varghese, sales and marketing engineer for Automation Products, collected the most contacts (close to forty) during the event and will be soon presented with a prize from the MEA Communications team.
HVDC gathers buzz
During the three-day summit leading power and oil and gas companies visited our stand and expressed a strong interest to use ABB’s pioneering HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) technology – a solution that has gathered a lot of buzz during the summit.
Powering oil and gas production platforms with higher efficiency power from shore using HVDC eliminates lower efficiency gas turbines on the platform itself resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and more reliable power delivery to operations.
A representative from a leading UAE oil and gas firm stated, “We’d seriously like to use the HVDC technology for our many projects in the region, as its increases energy efficiency and is environmentally-friendly, which is key for us.”
To help potential customers understand how the technology works, our team displayed a HVDC exhibit based on its NordE.ON1 offshore windfarm project in the North Sea.
The massive HVDC buzz at the summit led to an exclusive CNBC Arabia TV interview with Gunnar Asplund who works as head of HVDC research in Sewden. Asplund is a veteran in the field and is commonly referred to as ‘the father of HVDC Light’.
Staring at the sun
Another major attraction at ABB’s stand was its state-of-the art solar tracker.
A number of key solar panel manufacturers such as Middle East-based Green Energy LLC stopped by ABB’s stand to learn more about how the tracker actually works and how it can benefit their solar projects in the region.
A research team from Abu Dhabi's green energy firm, Masdar, was also very interested in our solar tracker and the technology behind it. The Masdar team was also intrigued by ABB’s Fourier Transform Spectrometer, which collects and transmits global CO2 and methane densities from an impressive 650 km above the earth.
Automation all the way
ABB’s i-bus KNX intelligent installation system also gathered a lot of attention at the show from key construction companies and contractors, in light of move to create more ‘green’ buildings in the region.
“ABB’s i-bus KNX intelligent technology is very interesting for us and we hope to work with the firm in the near future for our green building projects,” stated a representative from a Dubai-based construction firm.
Celebrating success
The second day of the summit ended with an official WFES speaker and exhibitor party, co-sponsored by ABB, at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel.
"ABB provides sustainable solutions to help mitigate the effects of climate change"
Over 700 exhibitors attended the event to celebrate their success at the summit. Before the celebrations kicked off, Frank Duggan, ABB’s MEA region manager, delivered the opening speech.
“ABB is very glad to be a co-sponsor of this event, which is essentially a celebration of everyone’s hard work over the months,” said Duggan. “ABB is very committed to this region and providing sustainable solutions to help mitigate the effects of climate change. We’d like to thank you for joining us at this event and looking forward to working together with many of you in the near future.”