Areva’s Transmission and Distribution (T&D) division highlighted the company’s major projects during Dubai’s WETEX 2010, which will conclude today. Areva’s T&D division is one of the top three global leaders in electricity transmission and distribution, with approximately 31,000 employees based in 72 industrial sites and serving 30,000 customers in 160 countries.
Mazen Hamadallah, Regional Vice President, AREVA Near & Middle East, said to Alternative Energy Africa that the sector was continuing the “implementation of its strategy of localization in order to increase the business proximity and the close intimacy with the customers and prospect [in the MENA region].” He specified that the area was mainly for turnkey projects. He added, “We plan to invest as we did in the past years in our footprint, in R&D, and products certifications, but also in accompanying our partners in the development of smarter grid solutions.”
AREVA’s exposition at WETEX concentrated on smart grids, renewable energy solutions, and turnkey capabilities revealing its augmented reality program. The company’s research initiatives include real-time monitoring applications which automatically adjust and reorganize electricity transmission to optimize performance. These smart grids offer higher standards of efficiency by continuously adapting to demand and supply variables while integrating active consumer participation into the grid.
Most importantly, how was Areva able to avoid the global economic meltdown that continues to rattle many in the industry? Hamadallah said that the region was strategic before the economic crisis, and in particular, the energy sector and power transmission and distribution have never decreased. He said, “We make massive investments in R&D; we target the excellence in quality, in projects and management, and delivery; and we propose state-of-the-art solutions that are [cost efficient].”
And perhaps the largest and most interesting project that continues to gain speed in the North Africa region is the Desertec Initiative, which plans to generate electricity for transportation to Europe by using concentrated solar power in the Sahara desert. As more companies are showing interest in the German-dominated consortium, could Areva join the ambitious project? The company just acquired US solar company Ausra demonstrating its eagerness to further its involvement in the solar industry. Hamadallah said, “Even though Germany has been leading the project from the beginning, we would be quite happy to bring our technological expertise to it.”
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