As enterprises in the Middle East progress in their digital transformation mindset, Charles Yang, president of Huawei Digital Power global marketing and sales service, sees the Middle East region and the Gulf specifically as one of “strategic importance” to the company as it seeks to contribute to a low-carbon, smarter society powered by digital technologies. The executive outlined the company’s vision in a press conference on the sidelines of this week’s GITEX Global 2021 summit held in Dubai, UAE.
The executive notes that, globally, almost 40% of carbon emissions now come from electric systems. “Many countries have proposed their timeline to achieve carbon neutrality, but to be able to deliver that goal, we need to build electric systems based on new kinds of power sources,” says Yang.
It is one of several priorities that Huawei Digital Power has in the Gulf region over the coming years. Founded earlier in 2021, Huawei Digital Power now looks at five areas of business globally: Smart PV, data center facilities, mPower for electric vehicles, site power, and integrated energy solutions. “While we will have cooperation with business in all of these five domains in the GCC, I believe that Smart PV and data center facilities are particularly important,” comments Yang.
With some of the longest sunlight hours in the world—estimated at 2,500 hours per year—Yang asserts that there are great opportunities for large-scale deployment of PV and energy storage systems in the region. To that end, Huawei Digital Power has already established strategic partnerships with many companies to support their deployment of such systems, not only in the region, but also globally.
In terms of data center facilities, Yang highlights that because of the developments in cloud and in digital sovereignty, many countries have accelerated the construction of data center facility. The development of 5G networks and services are also growing data traffic, with more data centers anticipated to be deployed.
“In the past, oil was the pillar of economic growth. But in the future, data will become a new engine for economic expansion,” contends Yang.
The executive cites how Huawei holds over 70% of the market share of data center facility in the Middle East. While traditionally data center construction would take on average 24 months, now this can be done in just six to nine months. “Another important factor for data center facility is energy consumption. Through a combination of AI and power electronics technologies, for example, Huawei solutions can reduce the PUE of data center facility from 1.45 to 1.2, which is very competitive in the industry.”
“At Huawei Digital Power, we can combine digital and power electronics technology to provide low carbon solutions to end users that are secure, simplified, and green. Using AI, cloud, and big data will facilitate more efficient operation and maintenance so that enterprises can provide clean and stable power to society. If we put 5G and digital power together, as one example, we can envision a future where we can build smart and integrated energy solutions easier and at lower costs,” adds Yang.” After the pandemic, there will be even greater demand from society for new and green power sources.”
Huawei aims to combine digital and power electronics technology to provide low-carbon solutions to end users that are secure, simplified, and green. Over the years, Huawei has already helped customers generate 400 TWh of green power and save 14.2 TWh of electricity, cutting carbon dioxide emission by 200 million tons, which is equivalent to planting 270 million trees.
Regarding global sustainable development goals, Yang believes that more countries will join treaties in the future. “This is not only our responsibility and obligation for future generations, but they also present new economic development opportunities.” He cites, for example, how technologies have helped enable the cost of solar power generation to be 5 to 10 times less than the same amount of power generated with fossil fuels.
Yang continues, “In the Middle East region, we've worked extensively with governments, enterprises, and partners in solid relationships, providing the latest equipment, technologies, and solutions to support their digital transformation. Moreover, there are lots of resources in the Middle East region for renewable energy. In the digital power domain, our goal is to build a digital power cloud that covers the end-to-end process of the power industry, from generation to transmission, distribution, and consumption, using big data technologies to help our customers and partners to improve energy efficiency, and ultimately build a low-carbon society. We also strive to build low-carbon campuses ourselves. For example, in our Huawei campuses in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, and in our manufacturing site in Dongguan, we have PV panels on top of the roofs, generating 19 MWh of electricity every year, with an installed capacity of 20 MW. That is equivalent to 9,000 tons of carbon emissions saved.”
The executive’s comments follow the conclusion of the Global Digital Power Summit 2021 held in Dubai, UAE, with more than 500 participants from 67 countries attending.
