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Middle East Industry News
Carrier to Expand in UAE
The Gulf News reported July 3 that Carrier Corp. plans to
expand its portfolio of cooling products into new sectors such as
district cooling in the region. In an exclusive interview with the
Gulf News, Aftab M. Khan, Carrier’s managing director for the
Middle East, said the company has the broadest range of products
in the region that straddle both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer market segments and is well-positioned to meet the
region’s and the United Arab Emirates’ growing cooling demand.
Carrier plans to bring in its global product range that uses
non-ozone-depleting refrigerants, such as the Aquaforce 30XA,
one of the machines the company will launch in 2009 as part of
its expansion. The company has manufacturing facilities in 78
countries, including Saudi Arabian Manufacturing Co. in the
Middle East.
City Cool, Emaar E.C. Sign Agreement
According to a June 26 Khaleej Times article, City Cool LLC
has signed a 630 million dirham ($172 million) deal with Emaar,
The Economic City (Emaar E.C.), to provide district cooling infrastructure for its Bay La Sun development in Saudi Arabia. The
development is the first integrated village within King Abdullah
Economic City. It will be supplied with 67,000 tons of cooling –
with future expansion up to 80,000 – from two district cooling
plants to ensure that residents’ cooling requirements are met. The
project includes two thermal storage tanks; a desalination plant,
using the latest reverse osmosis technology; 20 km ( 12. 4 miles) of
preinsulated steel or high-density polyethylene piping network;
and 25 energy transfer stations.
Empower Wins The Lagoons Contract
Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corp. (Empower) has
signed a 25-year agreement with Sama Dubai to provide district
cooling services for The Lagoons, a 70 million sq ft Dubai Creek
waterfront development located near the Ras Al Khor wildlife
sanctuary. Under the agreement, Empower will install eight district
cooling stations totaling 300,000 tons of capacity. Construction of
the project is expected to start in fall 2008, with the first cooling
plant to be operating by third quarter 2011. The final plant
should be completed by 2011-2012.
District Cooling Planned for Sharjah in UAE
The Gulf News reported in July that district cooling systems will
be introduced in Sharjah in a bid to reduce electricity consumption.
“The government has approved two district cooling plants in
the Al Khan and Al Mamzar areas of Sharjah, which will help us
save power because air conditioning units in buildings consume
a major chunk of electricity produced,” said Ebrahim Rashid Al
Deemas, deputy director general for technical affairs at the Sharjah
Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA).
Al Deemas told Gulf News in an interview that saving energy
and environment protection are now top priorities for SEWA, and
it would soon double its power production capacity.
Sama Dubai Partners with Qatar Cool
Sama Dubai, the international real estate investment and
development arm of Dubai Holding, in April announced the signing of a strategic 20-year partnership agreement between Dubai
Towers-Doha and Qatar District Cooling Company for the supply
of 6,600 tons of district cooling to service a total building area of
more than 150,000 sq m ( 1. 6 million sq ft).
According to the agreement, Dubai Towers-Doha, the largest
mixed-use development in Qatar, will be supplied with pre-agreed
chilled-water quantities from state-of-the-art production facilities
developed and commissioned by Qatar Cool, the sole supplier for
district cooling services to the West Bay and Corniche area.
The contract was signed by Farhan Faraidooni, executive
chairman, Sama Dubai, and Omar Hussain Al-Fardan, chairman of
Qatar Cool. It has been agreed that the delivery of chilled water
into the building will be carried out in three stages – September
2009, February 2010 and August 2010 – to meet the main contractors’ construction and commissioning activities on site.
Palm Sets Cooling Targets
As reported May 29 by Gulf News, Palm District Cooling (PDC),
under the umbrella of Palm Utilities, is aiming for 1. 1 million metric
tons of cooling capacity by 2012. Managing Director Shafiq Khouri
told Gulf News that PDC is looking into working with other companies regionally and internationally for opportunities in other
countries. Company officials said PDC will have 149,000 metric
tons of cooling capacity by the end of June 2008.
MFRI’s Perma-Pipe Middle East
Subsidiary Announces Orders
MFRI Inc. announced in May that its Perma-Pipe Middle East
subsidiary (PPME) in the United Arab Emirates has received orders
to supply more than $21 million worth of insulated piping systems
for the new Jebel Ali Airport City in Dubai. The insulated lines are
part of an extensive network of underground piping arteries for the
city’s district chilled-water scheme to air condition major buildings.
Jebel Ali Airport City is a pioneering concept in urban planning
featuring new residential, commercial and industrial developments
integrated with the construction of a major new airport. Upon
completion, this 140 sq km ( 54 sq mi) development will be the
combined size of London's Heathrow and Chicago's O'Hare airports
with at least six parallel runways and as many concourses. It will
be capable of handling more than 120 million passengers and more
than 12 million tons of cargo per year.
“This new work at Jebel Ali Airport City demonstrates that
PPME has established significant market acceptance in the Emirates,”
said Avin Gidwani, managing director of PPME.
“I am very pleased with the progress at PPME. This subsidiary
has grown to be a major asset in MFRI’s global expansion and
diversification,” added David Unger, chief executive officer and
