Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy initiative, and Siemens (NYSE: SI) signed an agreement establishing a long term strategic partnership.
Siemens will implement an innovative power grid combined with advanced building technologies in the first phase of Masdar City. This will serve as both an energy efficient power solution and a living R&D platform, Siemens said in a release.
The partnership also covers collaboration in the field of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which will involve research and development with the Masdar Institute. Siemens will establish an anchor presence in Masdar City, housing their Middle East Headquarters, a Centre of Excellence in Building Technologies and other initiatives including a Leadership Development Centre. The Centre of Excellence will begin R&D activities on the ground at Masdar City in 2010.
As part of the agreement, Siemens will provide integrated building automation technologies and jointly develop smart grid applications for the initial phase of Masdar City that will optimize energy consumption in the City. This living R&D facility will collect user data and consumer reaction to shape product design and automation while supporting Masdar City to achieve their energy efficiency targets.
The energy solution will function by integrating several Building Management Systems (BMS) and vertically linking them to an advanced energy Distribution Management System (DMS). By joining a number of buildings and consumer types (residential, commercial and educational), across a “district” BMS, Masdar and Siemens will be able to track and influence energy consumption in innovative ways. By connecting this “district” BMS to the DMS, the ability to implement end-to-end demand response from the utility direct to consumers will be created.
In addition, Siemens will collaborate with Masdar and the Masdar Institute to optimize the technical and economic aspects of environmentally friendly post-combustion Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS technologies capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from sources such as fossil fuel power plants and preventing the release of emissions into the atmosphere by using the CO2 for Enhanced Oil Recovery or permanently storing the CO2 in geological structures such as oil reservoirs or deep saline acquifers.
The research and development aspect of the partnership with the Masdar Institute is Siemens’ largest global investment of its kind with a science and technology organization. It comprises a long term R&D program for Smart Grid, Smart Buildings, and Carbon Capture and Storage and will manifest itself in grants, scholarships and educational programs for the advancement of the knowledge economy in the United Arab Emirates.
The Siemens Middle East Headquarters facilities in Masdar City will showcase the latest energy efficient technologies developed by the company and when complete, will accommodate a staff of almost 2,000 specialists.
This strategic framework agreement marks a major enhancement to the existing relationship between Masdar and Siemens where the German company is a major investor in the Masdar Clean Tech Funds I and II.
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