H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar

Dubai, UAE: Empower has announced the completion of the second phase of providing District Cooling services to Jumeirah project area, including Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management. The total capacity of the initial cooling energy is 10,000 TR, and is delivered by the main cooling plant, said the announcement.

According to the announcement, Empower and Jumeirah Group have signed the agreement for the three-phase project to provide Jumeirah project area in Dubai, which includes the above mentioned landmarks as well as Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeriah Al Naseem Hotel and others, with District Cooling services.

The District Cooling company said that the agreement is part of its strategic plan to expand its network to all districts in Dubai, especially key landmarks, such as governmental and tourist buildings and residential areas. The plan, the company further said, is part of Empower’s vision to replace all the conventional cooling systems with District Cooling services to get significant progress toward UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to preserve the environment and achieve sustainable development in all fields, including tourism and hospitality.

In the first phase of the project, the District Cooling service, the company informed, was delivered to Jumeriah Al Naseem Hotel in the first quarter of 2016, whereas the third phase will deliver the service to Madinat Jumeirah 1, 2, 3 in 2018, after building the permanent District Cooling plant to serve the entire area.

“We are happy to complete the second phase of the project, which is the corner stone of providing the service to Jumeirah project area fully,” said H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower. “This project has some special technical features, such as the need to build a cooling system for each building, replace the conventional cooling systems with Empower district cooling system without halting the service at all, building chilled water network across busy roads, and building a cooling plant in the middle of luxurious residential and touristic site. All these challenges were addressed with total accuracy and professionalism. We completed this phase of the project with zero downtime of services, and with the support of advanced technologies such as Non-Destructive Road Crossing (NDRC)”

He added: “I believe this project is a turning point for the District Cooling Service in Dubai, which will further enhance the trust on DC systems and attract more attention towards retrofitting conventional cooling systems with district cooling, thus ultimately helping to push towards the sustainable development and to reduce energy consumption,” he added.