Will provide a forum to discuss latest technologies, best practices and cost and sustainability benefits of district cooling

The Ministry of Electricity and Water, Kuwait, will be organising the Kuwait District Cooling Summit on January 25 and 26, 2011, at the Radisson Blu Hotel, a Ministry announcement has stated. The event will be held under the patronage of H E Dr Bader Al-Shuraiaan, Minister of Electricity and Water. The summit aims to bring together industry practitioners for sharing and discussing the contemporary issues as well as the opportunities and challenges of the region’s district cooling market.

Explaining the rationale behind the event, the announcement said: “For a country that holds around 10% of global oil reserves, it may be difficult to believe that Kuwait faces domestic power concerns. The nation has one of the world’s highest per capita consumption rates of electricity. And during the summer months, when temperatures hover around 50°C, it is estimated that around 70% of energy is consumed by air conditioning units. Because air conditioning is a necessity, and places a heavy burden on the electricity supply, the introduction of district cooling that provides cooling from a central location to various other locations has been introduced as an alternative.

It went on to list the advantages of district cooling as an alternative: the district cooling system is a considerably more cost-efficient alternative to conventional air conditioning units and air-cooled chiller systems. It is estimated that chiller plants account for up to 60% of electricity usage in large buildings. With a district cooling system, building owners can reduce electricity usage substantially. Additionally, there are cost savings and other benefits from reduced maintenance, enhanced efficiency and reliability, space savings, flexibility of air conditioning load and a plant life that is twice that of traditional plants.

According to the organisers, the two-day event will be a forum for senior level decision-makers, engineers, project managers, regional and international experts and industry leaders to discuss the latest technologies, best practices and cost and sustainability benefits of district cooling. It will also provide all concerned stakeholders with an opportunity to meet and network.

The organisers added that the summit would benefit new mega cities projects, urban redevelopment projects, high-rise buildings, ministries, government and municipal facilities, shopping mall owners, schools, universities, and medical centres and master planned communities.