Business & Money | Monday 14 November, 2016 3:47 pm |

HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (EMPOWER) and Mr Rob Thornton, President and CEO, International District Energy Association (IDEA) officially inaugurated The International District Cooling Conference 2016 today with the presence of high profile officials and experts accompanied by a delegation of from the public and private sector.

The “districtCOOLING: A Climate Solution” event that brings together regional and global major industry operators and experts at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai, is hosted by (Empower) and organized by (IDEA).

The officials have also made a tour in the trade exhibition and were introduced to a wide range of providers, manufacturers, suppliers and business partners in the district energy sector, during a tour among the stands.

“This is a huge opportunity for stakeholders of the district cooling industry globally and in the UAE to showcase their products and services to an international audience from the Gulf Region and beyond. It is of great pride that the opening has attracted that much attention from participants and media. We have high expectations from this event and we are confident that this international gathering will bring the awaited solutions in term of business deals and best practises to all attendees,” commented HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower.

The event was attended by senior representatives from Empower, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Johnson Controls, Carrier, Daikin, Mitsubishi, Siemens, Supreme Council of Energy, Trane, DC Pro Engineering, Bronze, ELIPS, Evapco and Climate Control Middle East among others.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, officially welcomed the gathering. The opening remark of the conference was delivered by Rob Thornton, President and CEO, IDEA, in which he welcomed all the participants from government stakeholders, district cooling providers, real estate developers, hotel and property owners, master planners, designers, experts, contractors and consultants. Tim Griffin, Chair of IDEA, addressed the session.

Recognized industry leaders took part at the opening plenary panel discussion that focused on the best practises in the district cooling systems deployment, operations and business.

Ahmad Bin Shafar (Empower), Yasser Al Jaidah (Qatar Cool), Afif Harhara (Tabreed), Anwar Hassan (Johnson Controls), Juan Ontiveros (University of Texas Austin) among others discussed also about the strategic role of district cooling in supporting the Paris Agreement (COP 21).

The following panel discussions gave insightful interventions and presentations on financing the district cooling solutions, the regulations in the GCC region, the environmental innovations, design considerations taking into account the regional factors, DC applications around the world and the DC system optimization to create customer value.

The participants were given several occasions to interact, mingle and network during themed roundtables, IDEA recognition Luncheon, IDEA business partner exhibitors’ receptions and the gala dinner hosted by Empower.

“This edition of the International District Cooling conference will allow us to find about the next generation of district cooling systems and related technology. Our goal is to set up development and upscaling goals that contribute to a sustainable and efficient energy and water management,” said Mr. Rob Thornton.

The districtCOOLING2016 conference follows tomorrow 15th of November with a rich program featuring discussions on District Cooling projects from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Jordan, comparative study of various systems, thermal energy storage and best practices in plant room construction, and operation and maintenance in the GCC region.

The event will close on the 15th of November with technical tours to allow participants to experiment Dubai’s achievement in the district cooling sector and check on the ground Empower’s projects and plants. The tours are planned to the Business Bay Plant 2 and to the Command Control Centre.