Bahrain is looking to overhaul its energy management system and announced this week that it was to implement a new “radical” IT system that would help boost energy efficiency in the Gulf Kingdom. According to the Bahrain Electricity and Water Authority (EWA), the utility-based IT project will be the largest ever in the small island country.
It will “automate key operational processes, initiating a bold step-change in customer service and overall performance in line with Bahrain’s 2030 economic vision.”
According to statistics, Bahrain’s energy consumption has nearly doubled in the past decade, leaving many fearful that shortages could be around the corner. With a tense political situation, the government and the EWA are looking to ensure that all modes of services are met with precision.
The overhaul, EWA officials confirmed to Green Prophet will see the introduction of “industry-specific solutions” that will lead to boosting customer relationship management as well as better billing, metering and network asset management.”
“A lot of this will be streamlined through new mobile services that will allow people to better process their energy consumption and see where to reduce expenditure,” the EWA said.
This should also help resolve a number of connection issues that have arisen in recent months as the country’s grid sees more use. The goal is to overhaul how customers view their billing cycle in order to reduce their energy needs, which will give the country more efficient system and reduce the overall impact of consumption in the country.
SAP’s suite of business solutions will, among other things, speed up the billing process, mitigate disconnection problems, enhance fault detection capabilities and control customer demand and load profiles more effectively.
“The Project will help improving network reliability, preventive maintenance activities and outage responses time,” said EWA CEO Nawaf Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa in a press release announcing the new measures.
“Sustainable development in Bahrain can only progress if we are capable of unlocking more efficient ways of capturing, managing and distributing electricity and water.”
“This requires awareness, determination and, crucially, it requires innovative technology capable of revolutionizing core processes. With our eye on Bahrain’s future generations, and the help of companies and collaborators like SAP, we are committed to stamping out inefficiency, minimizing emissions, embracing renewable energy, and making the smart grid a widespread reality,” he added.
With the Arab Gulf seeing their energy consumption rising, the idea here is to create modes and systems that will better enable reductions of energy costs, consumption and overall better customer service, which the EWA believes will be vital in reducing the country’s footprint in line with economic proposals currently on the table.
Image of light in mosque from Shutterstock
