The Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference under the Sponsorship of the Ministry of Energy

Under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Energy, the 10th Saudi Arabia Smart Grid Conference and its accompanying exhibition have been launched today under the slogan "Integrative Solutions for Sustainable Energy". The Conference and exhibition will continue for 3 days, during which the impact of sustainability, renewable energy, legislation, and future directions for smart grids will be discussed.

 

The Governor of the Water and Electricity Regulatory Authority, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al- Ibrahim, in his speech on this occasion, stressed the support and care provided to energy sector by the wise leadership, may God support them, which has led to the achievement of a paradigm shift in in various fields related to the sector, pointing out that the Ministry's sponsorship of this conference reflects its interest and concern to enhance this vital sector, contribute to the development of electric power industry technologies, and transform into smart grids that promote the electricity system to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

 

The opening session of the conference was held, and attended by the Deputy Minister of Housing, Eng. Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Budair, the Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development for the Common Services Sector, Eng. Muhammad bin Nasser Al-Jasser, the Governor of the Water and Electricity Regulatory Authority, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al- Ibrahim, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Planning for Sectoral and Regional Development Affairs, Farah bint Ahmed Ismail.

On the first day of the conference, six workshops were held, during which many important topics regarding the electricity grids were addressed, including; applications of artificial intelligence in smart grids, regulatory aspects related to the application of advanced technologies in grids, the infrastructure of electric car charging stations, and etc.

 

On the second day, many dialogue and specialized sessions were held, including; a dialogue session on the regulatory aspects and future directions of smart grids, and a session on grid upgrades, attended by the Governor of the Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, Dr. Saad Al-Qasabi, the Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission, Dr. Muhammad Al-Tamimi, and the Director of the National Information Center, Dr. Essam Al-Waqit, and another session on the future of smart utilities, attended by the CEO of the Saudi Electricity Company, Eng. Khaled Al-Qunun, the CEO of the National Water Company, Nimr Al-Shibl, and the CEO of the Saudi Power Procurement Company, Eng. Mazen Bahkali, in addition to an introductory session on “Saudi Kingdom’s Youth Energy.” The activities of the second day concluded with a discussion session on sustainability and renewable energy.

The program also included keynote speeches of the President of the Arab Union of Electricity, Eng. Abdul Rahim Hafizi, and the President of the State Grid Corporation of China, Jang Jiagang.

On the third day, a number of sessions were held, during which various topics were covered, including the support of major transformations in the energy sector, the latest trends in advanced grid solutions, entrepreneurship in the energy sector, the role of women in the energy sector, and the latest trends in smart grid technologies.

Moreover, the conference marked the honoring of the winners of the Smart Grids "Ideathon", which is being held for the first time, participated by 130 male and female students from 24 Saudi universities, representing 26 teams, competed in finding solutions and innovations related to some of the challenges facing the electricity sector and electrical grids.