Global Energy Management System Implementation:

Case Study
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Sharjah Electricity & Case Study Snapshot

Energy utility
Water Authority Industry

Generation,
Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority Product/Service Transmission and
(SEWA) stands as the one of the three Distribution of Electricity,
water and natural gas
government utilities in UAE to Implement
ISO 50001:2011 having an energy saving of
7.1% achieved within one year of United Arab Emirates,
Location
implementation Sharjah Emirate

Energy Management ISO 50001:2011

System

Energy Performance 1 year (2016)

Improvement Period

Energy Performance 7.1%

Improvement (%) over
improvement period

Total energy cost savings $26,079

over improvement period

SEWA Energy Award Team

Cost to implement EnMS $55,571

Business Case for Energy Management Payback period on EnMS 2.1 years
Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA) is an implementation (years)
independent utility catering half a millions of customers
residing in Sharjah covering an area of 235 km². The Total Energy Savings over 1248 GJ
improvement period
Company has an electricity load growth of 5% per
annum. The core businesses of the organization are a)
Total CO2-e emission 133.8 Metric tons
Generation, Transmission and distribution of electricity
reduction over
b) Water Desalination and Supply c) Piped Natural Gas improvement period
supply.
 Global Energy Management System Implementation: Case Study

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

SEWA has witnessed consecutive huge developments development stemmed from inefficient use of natural
since its inception as a private company. Later its resources and expected increase in energy demand
ownership was transferred to Sharjah Government as occurred due to population growth and climatic
Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEWA). His changes. Feedback from the Chairman’s publications
Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi, the Supreme and the company’s vision helped the Energy
Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah appointed Dr. Management team (EnMs) not only in setting baseline
Rashid Alleem as the Chairman of SEWA in 2014. Dr. for improvement but also to identify opportunities
Rashid Alleem is widely considered as one of the most based on findings. The organization has gained a
prominent thinkers for economic development and positive reputation among external and internal
corporate leadership at both local and international stakeholders by successful implementation of the
levels. identified prospects.

“I swell with pride to say that SEWA has

Energy management program: On a national level
accomplished ISO 50001(Energy Management
SEWA has been part of Ministry of Energy, UAE as well
System) certification. This is a big step towards as Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC) Abu Dhabi. On
prosperity and sustainable growth” the Emirate level, SEWA has initiated certain energy
Dr. Rashid Alleem, Chairman efficiency programs such as Conservation Award and
Peak Hour as a Corporate Social responsibility (CSR)
Drivers: Dr. Rashid, under his guidance, fostered initiative towards the community and an effort that
SEWA’s Mission and Vision to be well blended with would ultimately position SEWA as an exemplary Green
elements necessary to meet imminent global challenges Giant.
for energy and climate. SEWA’s Vision defines why it
Energy reduction approach: SEWA‘s energy reduction
exists as an organization and its commitment towards
approach emerges from its Strategic plan is to promote
achieving its goals defined during different eras of
conservation of natural resources. The company has
economic development of the country. SEWA Vision
taken several environmental-friendly initiatives to
2020 “To be among the best authentic organizations in
encourage for optimal energy usa such as conservation
the world” has been derived from Ministry of Energy’s
techniques tutorials, use of energy efficient products,
(UAE) vision 2021 for sustainable development.
peak hour shaving, educational activities in schools and
Implementing ISO 50001:2011 (Energy Management
organizations, training scouts and guides etc.
System) was one of SEWA’s strategic initiatives for the
fulfillment of its vision towards a) environment and
energy conservation, b) maintaining load growth, c) Business Benefits Achieved
sustainability and climate change. The company The Integrated Management System (IMS) was
implemented ISO 50001 in 2015 in its Head Office (HO) implemented 2015. The IMS consists of three main
consisting of ten functional departments with an standards 9001 for Quality, 14001 for Environment and
employee headcount of approximately 300. 18001 for Occupational Health and safety .in parallel
ISO 50001 was also made a part of IMS to maximize its
Dr. Rashid Alleem, a visionary leader, has written
effectiveness in implementation.
several books for economic excellence. In one of his
book “Sustainability- Fourth Wave of Economy” he has SEWA ENMS team maintain monthly reports to analyses
talked about an overarching concept of sustainable energy usage and production of carbon emissions for
continuous monitoring and improvement.

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Reduction in greenhouse-gases (GHG) emissions and related to Organizational Excellence. SEWA has a
carbon footprint showed significant improvement to dedicated energy management team having skilled
meet set energy efficiency target and regulations for technical and supportive staff responsible to implement
reducing GHG emissions. EnMS integration with IMS led and monitor EnMS related opportunities. The team
to increased knowledge of equipment, structured consists of one team leader being the technical advisor,
decision making processes and methodologies, energy and members representing different departments.
Members from different departments help identify
awareness, corporate reputation, secured energy
energy opportunities associated with different functions
supply, improved operation and maintenance
of the organization for e.g. IT-EnMS members who have
processes, and redesigning Pre-qualification process for
initiated and implemented E-Billing initiative. The team
suppliers.
members are associated with departments such as
“SEWA as a multi-dimensional and multi- quality, technical advisory, Excellence, Energy efficiency,
service provider having corporate type IT and Electrical Services departments.
organization structure under Government Review, analysis, and planning: Prior to smart meters,
entity is very optimistic about their future the SEWA HO was equipped with electromechanical
meters which usually failed to provide accurate data for
energy road map, especially in line with the
energy measurement. The smart meters, on the other
ISO 50001 achievement, objectives and hand, was equipped with high accuracy measurement
requirements. The management support and tools, live monitoring and data saving up to six months.
efforts from the Energy Team leads the To have an in depth analysis on the trend of energy
consumption and employee behavior, seven smart
organization towards the success and required meters were installed in SEWA HO. The HO has three
benchmark.” floors, each floor comprises of right and left wing
Eng. Doreb Ebrahim
occupied by specific departments. Six smart meters
Technical Advisor-Chairman Office were installed in each wing as sub-meters, and the
seventh meter is installed to measure the total
consumption of the six sub-meters along with separate
EnMS Development and Implementation reading from the HVAC. In Parallel, a specialized team
The EnMS team started to develop the understanding was designated to work on data gathering for all power-
consuming equipment and appliances to highlight the
and training of ISO 50001 in Year 2015 and aligned
significant ones.
themselves towards the objectives and goals set for
EnMS to meet the KPIs and Targets. In 2015 the Figure 1 represents a graphical picture of energy
external audit was successfully completed, resulting in consumption units where Chillers, lighting and printing
the certification award for ISO 50001.The system was show the highest percentage i.e. 65%, 20% and 9%
then integrated as a part of IMS to have in depth respectively.
analysis for EnMS Procedures, Energy use and identified
EnPI’s, to achieve the optimum percentage in reduction In addition the EnMS team has also included fuel
of energy and ultimately Carbon. consumption and maintenance costs for car fleet that
serves the HO operations, within energy review. Factors
SEWA’s vision comes from the philosophy of its top
like Gross Floor Area (GFA) and cooling degree day
management of working towards excellence through
(CDD) for HVAC are considered for analysis while for
tough decisions and established energy goals for
other appliances and total consumption GFA and people
performance improvement. The EnMS team works
parallel with SEWA’s Excellence department which is occupancy, had been taken as main characteristics.
responsible for the overall development activities
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Opportunities had been prioritized based on selected

criteria and decision matrix. The priority criteria are
usually determined thru project feasibility which
includes ease of implementation, implementation
period, capital cost, return on investment, and
percentage contribution in energy saving and carbon
reduction.

Financing: SEWA Budget Process are based on the

approval of the Project Charter from the management
after being screened from Budget, Finance, Internal
Audit and Purchase Section. The project charter
describes the Project details and specification, scope,
BOQ, duration and cost allocation SEWA has also
started product/ process/ solution evaluation in
Figure 1: Identified energy use consideration of EnMS norms, mainly Energy Efficiency
and low power consumption.
The Energy Performance Indicators had been developed
Duration: Project duration are determined by the size
based on the highest energy consumption factors
of the project, equipment availability at site, man days
divided by their characteristics, in order to unify the
involved and priority of each project.
energy indication, as shown in Figure 2.

Cost - benefit Analysis

The implementation of opportunities expended a total
direct cost of $36,405 and indirect cost of $19,166 with
total saving of $26,079 having a payback period of 26
months. Below is a table representing analysis of Capital
direct cost, annual savings, Carbon savings and annual
Figure 2: Energy Performance Indicator
saving for opportunities implemented.
In order to meet the Energy performance indicators
(EnPIs) presented in Figure 2. The EnMS team has
investigated the most feasible opportunities with the
highest impact, and came up with four opportunities
that were implemented in 2016. Fresh Air Handling Unit
(FAHU) was replaced, LED lighting was placed instead of
conventional lighting, bill printing was minimized by E-
Billing (Green Bill) initiative and vehicles fleet was
optimized by reducing number of cars. Other
opportunities such as monitoring printing process,
condenser evaporative cooling, solar PV rooftop and
Table 2: Cost-benefit Analysis
solar powered EV charging station will be implemented
in 2017. Approach used to determine whether energy
performance improved

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The Energy Management team conducts periodic EnMS team has been expanded into energy
session to review the improvements achieved through authenticated talent who specializes in enhancing
implementation of EnMS. Some methods include energy efficiency and performance. The Team has been
monitoring and investigating energy consumption via trained ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management Systems:
monthly reading to validate the pre assessed Internal Auditor by British Standard Institute (BSI) to
assumption made to develop energy saving develop their ability to perform internal audits and
opportunities. In addition employees have been given checks in order to comply with the standard guidelines
awareness on paper usage which has actually resulted during implementation. To match up to the world class
standards the team has gone through several
in reducing the amount of paper consumed previously.
workshops and trainings along with participating in
The Car fleet expense has been rationalized in terms of
various energy exhibitions, conferences and awards
the fuel consumption and maintenance costs due to
such as World Future Energy Summit , Clean Energy
reduction in no of cars (19 to 12).
Business Council Summit and trainings by Energy
Approach used to validate results Regulatory Authority in Singapore .
EnPI has been one of the tool to measure energy Employee engagement: Implementing ISO 50001 was
performance as it helps setting a baseline for measuring not an easy task to achieve as it involved transforming
past and present energy performance .It also provides the mindset of the overall workforce of the
guidelines for future energy benchmarks. organization. However, the implementation proved
Internal audit is another tool which is conducted twice a fruitful in enhancing employee engagement and create
year to ensure compliance of the energy management a performance-oriented and purpose-driven culture.
system before the external certification. The internal Awareness sessions: EnMS along with Excellence team
audit helps the energy team identify discrepancies and of SEWA arranged several awareness sessions especially
corrective actions for their rectification. related to energy policy which talked about establishing
Steps taken to maintain operational control and the importance of energy saving towards sustainable
sustain energy performance improvement growth.
Workshops and training: Several Workshops and
To avoid any deviation from ENPIs, EnMS team
training sessions related to KNX automation system
conducts a follow up by having relevant periodic
have been provided to employees, public and students
meetings. Reward and recognition of the efforts is
to enlighten them with benefits of smart energy usage.
intended to be an essential part to ensure the team
Update on the same sessions and workshops are held
remains motivated and effective in implementing the
periodically.
system and raising awareness. The internal audits have
Share points for employees: “I am creative” is one such
been a great help for educating employees and infusing
initiative taken by the employees to share ideas related
in them a sense of responsibility to comply with Energy
to company including energy saving options and its
Management Initiatives and tutorials such has switching
financial impacts for organization’s benefit.
of lights after working hours , keeping AC temperature
at 24C , use of LED lighting, and etc. Professional expertise: Engaging professionals worked
as support partner for implementing ISO 50001 in
Development and use of professional expertise, SEWA. The assistance involved experienced learning
training, and communications and practical approaches which were useful in achieving
successful outcomes and saving costs. It not only helped

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segregating high energy consumption appliances but most of all, love of what you are doing or
also provided support in analyzing factors effecting the learning to do.”
energy consumption. Eng. Doreb Ebrahim
Technical Advisor-Chairman Office
With the development of ISO 50001 requirement, a new
concept of Energy management emerged, which
brought a cultural change not only within the EnMs
team but also the general employees changing routine
habits to more sensible, smart and responsible towards
Energy saving, cost saving and carbon footprints.
SEWA’s Vision, Mission and Corporate strategy revolves
around sustainability which gives a good attribute,
motive and support from all SEWA community.
Figure 3: Smart Meter Data Analysis Technology advancement is unstoppable, thus
delegation, external communications and harnessing
EnMs team deployed smart meters and other smart
technical expertise is a key to bring the best practices
devices to assist in monthly management and
monitoring of energy data as shown in Figure . The data solutions.
is then converted into visual displays for e.g. charts and Keys to Success
tables illustrating monthly/yearly energy use, capital  Top management support.
costs of opportunities and savings in terms of kWh,  Raising Employee awareness.
costs and carbon emissions. The formulation of data  Technology Harness.
helps in re-evaluating the EnMS procedures and  Integration of ISO 50001 with IMS (9001-Quality,
opportunities to look for improvements. ISO 50001 14001-Environment and 18001-Health and safety)
being integrated with IMS, SEWA web application had to generate feasible and comprehensive initiatives.
also been developed for SEWA e-billing customer
registration to foster the Green Bill initiative.

Through the Energy Management Working Group (EMWG), government officials worldwide share best practices and leverage their collective
knowledge and experience to create high-impact national programs that accelerate the use of energy management systems in industry and
commercial buildings. The EMWG was launched in 2010 by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and International Partnership for Energy Efficiency
Cooperation (IPEEC).
For more information, please visit www.cleanenergyministerial.org/energymanagement.
Lessons Learned
“Success is not an accident. It is hard work,
perseverance learning, studying, sacrifice and