Empower saves 263 million gallons of fresh water in 2015
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (EMPOWER), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, achieved record saving of 263 millionin imperial gallons of fresh water in 2015, enough to fill 478 Olympic swimming pools.
This was achieved despite the higher demand for District Cooling services in Dubai, in which Empower occupies a share of 70%. This comes in the framework of the company’s keenness to preserve water resources in Dubai, and adherence to the national strategy for sustainable development of water resources, according to HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, Chief Executive Officer of Empower.
“Empower follows the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in saving natural resources,” said Bin Shafar. “Empower succeeded in achieving record water saving in 2015, thanks to the directives of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, stipulated that district cooling companies must opt for sea water, grey water or Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) as opposed to desalinated water.”
Many years ago, Empower replaced fresh water with TSE in its District Cooling operations, understanding its high environmental benefits. The technology was awarded International District Energy Association (IDEA)’s first Innovation Award in 2013. “We follow strict green standards, where the use of TSE contributes to saving natural resources in Dubai,” said Bin Shafar.
“Empowerfollows strict criteria and develops advanced techniques that enable us to re-use treated water repeatedly, which saves millions of gallons of water. Weuse TSE water in our tanks at the plants, which is further treated to produce chilled water several times. Empower boasts a network of insulated pipes to transport chilled water to the buildings where warm water returns to Empower’s plant rooms to be re-chilled. Empower makes great strides in minimising its water footprint where all our cooling plants follow these international standards,” added Bin Shafar.
“We understand the responsibility of ensuring efficient service, while also maintaining best conservation practices. We are constantly innovating new mechanisms that ensure efficient round-the-clock available service,” elaborated Bin Shafar.
“This achievement is the result of long-term investment in water technologies, which represents the backbone of success for District Cooling in this part of the world. Empower works effortlessly to overcome challenges related to scarcity of water resources, and we see in District Cooling an optimised solution that addresses these challenges,”concluded Bin Shafar.
Empower currently operates more than 1 million 100 thousands RT, providing environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments, such as Jumeirah Group, Business Bay, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Ibn Battuta Mall, Discovery Gardens, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai World Trade Centre Residences and Dubai Design District among others.
