Empower Reveals At WETEX 2018 The World’s First Unmanned Plant That Uses Artificial Intelligence In The Presence Of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, introduced the world’s first unmanned district cooling plant that uses Artificial Intelligence, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), at the 20th Water, Energy, Technology and Environment Exhibition (WETEX) 2018. The cooling plant is set to be completed in Jumeirah Village Area.

Empower is participating as a strategic partner in WETEX 2018, which is held under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and President of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). WETEX 2018 is organized from 23 to 25 October 2018 under the umbrella of ‘Green Week’ and with the theme ‘At the forefront of sustainability’, at Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

His Highness was briefed by Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, on a model of the world’s first unmanned and fully automated 50,000 Refrigeration Tons (RT) district cooling plant, to be completed in Jumeirah Village Area  by Empower for the first time. The Plant uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor and automatically adjust inflow and outflow of the chilled water, with 0.89 kW/t operational efficiency, using 6 water coolers (11KV) to monitor and adjust the flow of water to and from the cooling station, as well as Advanced SCADA system with the capacity to read 2 million data related to cooling towers, chillers, transformers, water supply etc. It also uses award-winning TSE and Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technologies to serve chilled water to 90 buildings through ETS Rooms located in each building. The plant is set to be completed by Q4 of 2019. His Highness was also introduced to the most innovative technologies and solutions in the environmentally-friendly district cooling industry, which Empower has developed in order to meet the growing demand for efficient and energy-saving cooling solutions.

“Our participation at and sponsorship of WETEX confirms our pioneering role in supporting national efforts to raise global awareness on the importance of achieving sustainable development goals, and strengthening the UAE’s position as a global hub for clean energy and a model for sustainability through increasing the contribution of public and private sectors to the implementation of related strategies. We support the Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which aims to reduce energy and water consumption by 30% by 2030, to make Dubai the city with the lowest carbon footprint in the world by 2050,” said Bin Shafar.

Bin Shafar stressed that Empower provides a wide range of green solutions and technologies that promote  energy efficiency. Empower also aligns its strategy with national policies governing the energy sector. These policies work on two of the most pressing challenges today; energy security and climate change. To meet these challenges, there is an urgent need to develop effective technologies to reduce energy consumption and conserve natural resources. Bin Shafar explained that this approach is of Empower’s, is making it as the leader of the district cooling industry at the regional and global level, and as a reference to organisations operating in the same sector.

“Empower works on future development plans to enhance the integration of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly district cooling systems that promote the growth of the local district cooling market by offering a range of energy-efficient technologies and reduce operating and maintenance costs. These are some of the incentives that drive developers to adopt green buildings, and encourage participation in achieving comprehensive and sustainable national development goals,” added Bin Shafar.

Empower currently operates over 1.34 Million RT, providing environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments, such as Jumeirah Group, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Business Bay, Dubai Healthcare City, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Palm Jumeirah, Discovery Gardens, Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai Design District and International Media Production Zone, among others.