Gulf Construction Online - Hospitality sector, cool client for Empower

Cooling & Ventilation

Bin Shafar ... preferred technology.

Hospitality sector, cool client for Empower

01 July 2011

A BOOM in Dubai’s hospitality industry has come as a boon for Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower).
The company notes that 10 per cent of its total business in the first half of the year came from supplying district cooling to 20 hotels in Dubai. Empower, among the largest district cooling service providers in the region, says besides the boom in the hospitality industry, the increase in hotel consumption was due to an increasing adoption of this technology.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, says: “The operational percentage saving in a hotel unit using district cooling compared with conventional air-conditioning technologies ranges between 40 and 45 per cent. The hotel industry in Dubai has started preferring this technology because of its advantages in conserving the environment, financial savings and better services to guests.”

Empower’s district cooling systems (DCS) provide effective and efficient means of air-conditioning. The technology involves cooling water in central plants and distributing it through a network of piping systems to individual customer buildings.

Empower, a joint venture between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and Tecom Investments, has world-class stations being built at various locations in Dubai.

The JV has developed a world-class district cooling infrastructure and network. Apart from the latest equipment and solutions, the company has worked hard to raise public awareness on how this technology saves the operating and maintenance costs and conserves the environment.

The increase in the consumption of district cooling shows that Dubai is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of using district cooling systems as an alternative to the conventional air-conditioning systems, leading to energy saving and environment conservation, as well as lower operations and maintenance costs.

The company, which was established in 2003, has been part of many huge projects in the emirate. It has supplied 300,000 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) to Sama Dubai’s The Lagoons development, 53,000 TR to Business Park developed by Dubai Properties, 70,000 TR to Dubiotech developed by Tecom Investments, 168,000 TR to Dubai World Trade Centre developed by the Dubai government, and 60,000 TR to Dubai Healthcare City (Phase Two) developed by Tatweer.

Other projects include Tijara Town (53,000 TR), Dubai Studio City (70,000 TR), Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone (50,000 TR), and Culture Village (44,000 TR), among others.

Empower is this month settling the final installment of a Dh200 million ($54.5 million) loan from HSBC Bank, which the company used to expand its operations in the UAE and build its plant and network in the Jumeirah Beach Residence project, regarded as one of the prestigious developments in Dubai.