Industry
News
Report Analyzes Middle East District
Cooling Market
Research and Markets has announced the addition of Frost &
Sullivan’s new report Analysis of the District Cooling Market in the
Middle East Region to its offerings. The report covers market dynamics,
forecasts and trends; a revenue analysis; competitive analysis; end-user
analysis; the regulatory environment; company profiles; and more.
Among its analyses, the report examines how the market is
propelled by high power costs; how with greater government
involvement the market is expected to become more organized,
populated and competitive; and how huge investments will be
needed to meet the expected additional district cooling capacity of
4. 5 million tons of refrigeration by 2013.
To order this report or for more information, see www.research
andmarkets.com.
Middle East Industry News
Bahrain Bay Focuses on Greenhouse
Gas Abatement
Bahrain Bay Utilities (BBU), of the $1.5 billion urban development
venture Bahrain Bay, has appointed Ernst & Young to provide advisory
services on potential greenhouse gas abatement projects. The move
aims to obtain carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean
Development Mechanism. BBU, a joint venture between Arcapita
Bank and Dalkia, will focus initially on district cooling projects at
Bahrain Bay and Al Areen, according to a Dalkia spokesperson.
“Our initial focus will be on greenhouse gas abatement projects
that otherwise might not be eligible for funding under the Kyoto
Clean Development Mechanism,” said Amjad Rihan, director of
climate change and sustainability services for Ernst & Young. “If by
working with Arcapita, Dalkia and other interested parties, we are
able to establish a functional process, we will be able to make
sustainability a central plank of any further developments in the
kingdom – which is of course an important part of Vision 2030.”
Vision 2030 identifies sustainability as one of the guiding
principles of economic development in the kingdom over the next
20 years.
Tabreed to Build Record-Breaking
Cooling Plant
Tabreed’s district cooling plant under construction at The Pearl
Qatar will set a world record for refrigeration tonnage. “At 120,000
tons, it will be one of the biggest in the world to be built as a single
plant,” Tabreed’s new chief executive officer, Sujit S. Parhar, told
MEP Middle East in an exclusive interview, reported June 19 on
Construction Week’s Web site. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, Tabreed
is operating in Qatar through its subsidiary Qatar Cool and is involved
with several key developments there, according to Parhar. Apart from
The Pearl, Tabreed has one other district cooling plant under construction in the downtown business district of Doha, Qatar. It is also
involved in various projects in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Jordan, though
Parhar says much of Tabreed’s current capacity expansion will be
focused on realizing Abu Dhabi’s 2030 Vision.
In the July 2009 print edition of MEP Middle East, Parhar said
Tabreed will have to increase its existing installed base of about
300,000 TR fivefold if it is to meet the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision. “It
is going to be a big challenge, but I think Tabreed has what it takes
to be able to deliver,” he said. Parhar said the company expects to
deliver an additional seven new plants in Abu Dhabi this year alone.
USCS Honored for Dolphin System
U.S. Chiller Services was honored at the second annual Facilities
Management Middle East Awards held May 15 at the Westin Hotel
Dubai. The company was recognized for introducing and implementing Clearwater Systems Corp.’s chemical-free Dolphin water treatment
system in the region. The awards were organized by ITP Business
Publishing Ltd., publishers of Construction Week.
PPME Receives Additional Orders for Airport
MFRI Inc. announced that its subsidiary in the United Arab
Emirates, Perma-Pipe Middle East (PPME), has received additional
orders for insulated piping at the new Jebel Ali Airport City in Dubai.
One year ago, MFRI announced its first $21 million in orders for this
project. The additional orders include piping elements for a new
desalinization plant and power station bringing the total value of
PPME insulated pipe on this project to approximately $32 million.
The insulated lines are part of an extensive underground network
of piping arteries for the new city’s district chilled-water distribution
system to air condition major buildings. Jebel Ali Airport City is a
pioneering concept in urban planning that features the new residential, commercial and industrial developments integrated with
the construction of a major new airport. When this 140-sq-km (54-
sq-mile) development is completed, it 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.
Smaller Cooling Plants Projected
Small-sized plants with less than one-third the capacity of the
existing large district cooling plants will be the future of the industry
in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, according to George Berbari,
chief executive officer of DC Pro Engineering. He shared his views on
the state of the industry in a June 11 article in Emirates Business 24/7.
Berbari maintained that demand for plants with capacities
ranging from 5,000 to 25,000 tons of refrigeration will multiply,
but large investments and lack of financing will make it difficult for
companies to plan big plants.
“Although looking from an operational and maintenance
perspective, this will turn out to be one of the safest businesses,”
he said. “Those who have already established a facility and have
about 60 to 70 percent of users will do well. However, it will be
difficult for the development of new district cooling plants. They
are not being developed at the same rate as before.”
In the article, Berbari also discussed current tariff and customer
issues in the region. To read the full article, go to http://tinyurl.com/
EmiratesBusiness.
