Abu Dhabi, UAE: According to an official communiqué issued by Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the UAE Ministry of Energy, SKM Air Conditioning and the university have signed an agreement to develop advanced energy-efficient building chillers specific to the GCC region.

If adopted nation-wide, the new chillers, the communiqué said, could provide the UAE with national energy savings of over 20%, while lowering life-cycle cooling plant costs. Currently, 50% of the UAE’s electricity consumption goes towards cooling energy requirements, which can rise to as high as 75% during peak-day electricity use in the summer, revealed the communiqué. It added that the new technology could also be exported to other GCC countries with similar climate and energy consumption scenarios, enhancing the UAE’s diversified knowledge economy.

The communiqué informed that the collaboration agreement was signed in the presence of officials from the UAE Ministry of Energy, UAE-based SKM Air Conditioning and Masdar Institute on the sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) 2017, which was held from January 16 to 19 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC) as part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2017.

The agreement, the communiqué further said, was signed by Her Excellency, Fatima Al Foora Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Clean Energy and Desalinated Water Affairs, UAE Ministry of Energy, Dr Behjat Al Yousuf, Interim Provost, Masdar Institute, and Mohammed Al Besharah, in his capacity as the representative of SKM Managing Director.

“The Ministry of Energy seeks to incentivize and facilitate applied research in the energy sector in key areas such as air conditioning,” Her Excellency, Fatima al Foora, said. “We have found the Triple Helix to be an effective model for encouraging the collaboration between industries, academia and government on key projects. This is fundamental for development of a knowledge based economy as has been repeatedly seen in the most innovative economies of the world. In the future, we aim to develop more of such triple helix projects with participation of more industries and academic institutions in the UAE.”

Stating that best results will be reached only through partnerships, Mohammed Al Beshara said that SKM Air will look forward to collaborating with others in the future.

Dr Behjat Al Yousuf added: “Our collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Energy and SKM Air Conditioning highlights Masdar Institute’s ongoing commitment to developing innovations of relevance to the needs of the UAE and wider region. We are confident this partnership will help the UAE reduce its energy consumption, which is critical to achieving its sustainability goals.”