Bernhard Niessing, Siemens says refineries are moving towards more sophisticated technology to reduce their utilities spend and produce cleaner products
Energy efficiency, lower carbon footprint and cleaner product portfolio is a dream team for any industrial plant today.
As the Middle Eastern countries are in the process of rapid industrialisation, they are keen to invest in technologies that help them produce ‘more from less’.
Dwindling feedstock and rising competition is making these companies scout for solutions that will ensure their product stands out in the market. Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East spoke to Bernhard Niessing, CEO Sector Industry Middle East to find out how Siemens can help the downstream industry in keep its running efficient and profitable.
Niessing says the industry today is moving towards larger and more complex refining and petrochemicals facilities and sees a benefit there in terms of shared use of utilities and better economies of scale.
“There is certainly a trend in the Middle East towards bigger, integrated refining and petrochemical complexes. Project developments in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and in the United Arab Emirates, among other countries, are a case in point.
Integrated plants can, for example, share central control rooms, cooling systems and energy supplies. At the same time, the process of integrating refining with petrochemical facilities makes such projects more and more complex.
From our perspective, integrated facilities are likely to require sophisticated technology, and Siemens can provide intelligent and efficient systems to master their complexity,” he explains.
Niessing believes that industries today are clear on their goal of higher efficiency without risking productivity and adding further to environmental pressures.
“We provide technologies including the Product Lifecycle Management software which reduces the time it takes for products to reach the market by up to 50 per cent, while saving resources and energy costs.
In industrial plants, using integrated drive systems helps reduce energy consumption by about 70 per cent. We can also help increase efficiency of industrial plants by using production information,” he says.
Siemens played its role as a technology provider focused on efficiency in a recent contract award in Abu Dhabi.
“An example of this in the UAE is the scope of work we’ve conducted at Elixir, one of the Middle East’s biggest producers of industrial gases and a joint-venture between ADNOC and Linde Industrial Gases Company.
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Siemens supplied the petrochemicals plant located in Abu Dhabi with an integrated automation solution combined with a fail-safe system of low-voltage drive technology, continuous gas analyzers, flow meters, pressure transmitters and a reliable power distribution system.
All of this ensures smooth operation at the plant throughout the entire value chain,” he says.
Niessing stresses on the fact that almost 30 per cent of energy consumption globally comes from industry, while electric motors and drives consume up to 70 per cent of all energy used in industrial plants.
Industries can easily conserve resources by switching to energy-efficient motors. This is where, companies like, Siemens step in and helps lower operating costs, he adds.
Another mega-trend in the industry is the move towards cleaner fuels. There has been a shift in the Middle Eastern refineries to produce cleaner fuels as they want to target export markets.
The region is fighting for its space in the clean fuel product market with Asia, and is spending billions of dollars in plant upgrades.
This is a target area for Siemens where they offer solution to refiners to make the operations more sustainable and less hazardous, explains Niessing.
In fiscal 2012 alone, the company, according to its annual report has helped customers reduce their CO2 emissions by 332 million tonnes through technologies within its environmental portfolio.
The company generated 33.2 billion euros in revenue from the portfolio, a growth of 10 per cent compared to fiscal 2011, and amounting to 42 per cent of its total revenue.
“This is a clear indication that the biggest lever for advancing sustainable development is optimising energy efficiency. The challenge is to bring down the amount of energy needed to power many of those refineries in the region. This will have a positive impact for the future,” concludes Niessing.
