The Smart Grid Division of Siemens and the Spanish utility Iberdrola plan to join forces in business with smart infrastructure for energy and water in the Middle East. The two parties have signed a memorandum of understanding stating that the parties intend to negotiate a contract for a strategic alliance. As part of this alliance, the partners plan to develop smart grid technologies for Qatar and the entire Middle East.
Areas in which the partners hope to cooperate include the integration of energy from renewable sources such as the sun and wind into smart grids. In addition, both parties intend to develop systems designed to balance the supply and demand for energy (demand response management). Such a balance not only ensures network stability but helps utilities by eliminating the need to draw on expensive peak-load power plants. The two parties also plan to cooperate in monitoring and controlling of the distribution grids. Here, new technologies allow for an improved integration of outage management and an advanced level of grid automation. This enables utilities to operate their grids more reliably and more efficiently.
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