Saudi ARAMCO's efforts in smart grid

Abstract

Due to the population growth and grid expansion to rural areas, the demand in Saudi electricity network is rapidly increasing. Consequently, the daily consumption of fossil fuels used to generate electricity is booming at an alarming rate. This has motivated the Saudi decision makers to explore different alternatives so as to improve energy efficiency and reliability both from the generation and demand sides. This paper gives an overview of the efforts taken by Saudi ARAMCO in this regard. These efforts include: (a) Implementation of new substation automation system based on the innovative IEC 61850 standards, and (b) Exploring options for the integration of renewable energy sources. These efforts will eventually culminate into the concept of smart grid to improve energy efficiency, reliability and cost effectiveness for the industrial sector.

Utilization of Smart Grid and Renewable Energy toward a Sustainable Future in Saudi Arabia

“…Like many countries in the world, Saudi Arabia is beginning to consider smart grid as an alternative to traditional grid. Saudi ARAMCO, for example, has initiated several small projects in which elements of smart grid system has been introduced [14].…”

Fuzzy Dynamic Thermal Rating System-Based SIPS for Enhancing Transmission Line Security

“…Under SIPS, the efficiency and security of various power protection schemes, i.e., generation rejection, overload mitigation and etc., are now highly reliable and has been accepted worldwide [23]. In the Saudi Arabia (SA) national grid, a variant of SIPS, the Operational Tripping Scheme (OTS), was installed in a special pilot zone of the grid to study the efficacy of OTS in tripping power generations after the loss of transmission lines to protect against line overloading and cascading outages [24].…”