5th Annual Middle East District Cooling Summit comes to an end
The 5th Annual Middle East District Cooling Summit – a gathering of regional and global experts for cooling and tri-generation (cooling, heat and power) in the region, concluded today.
The summit was attended by more than 300 participants and delegates comprising high ranking company officials and technology experts from across 20 countries.
“The 5th Annual Middle East District Cooling Summit was indeed a huge success,” said George Berbari, chief executive officer of DC Pro Engineering, UAE and chairman of the summit. “With experts from the region and all over the world having presented and discussed the benefits of district cooling, this summit has made governments more aware of the significance of district cooling in curbing power demand increases and its positive impact on the environment and national resources.
“Already, Dubai has implemented strict regulations for district cooling,” Berbari added, “and Kahramaa has established a dedicated district cooling division that has mandated the use of non-desalinated water, along with plans of introducing new and important district cooling regulations. As the district cooling industry is getting more efficient than ever before, with 0.85 kw/ton achieved today compared to 1.0 kw/ton 10 years ago, it is also evolving to include tri-generation of power, cooling and heating integrated with renewable solar and deep geothermal energy to provide a comprehensive solution.”
Following the summit’s opening day inauguration, keynote speeches, and sessions, the second day proceeded with sessions that tackled topics such as tri-generation. Also on the second day of the summit, Salah Nezar, sustainability director for Qatar Project Management (QPM) made a presentation on ‘Innovative Cooling for Green Thinking’. Included in his presentation were detailed discussions on why there is a need for outdoor cooling in Qatar, passive solutions layout, solar cooling solution outlines, and the challenges and opportunities.
At the close of his presentation, he noted that while an outdoor cooling solution is viable, it is also quite challenging. Adding that the architectural and landscape aspects of the solution are as important as the engineering approach and that solar radiation mitigation would be the most important factor in minimising heat gain. Furthermore, Nezar stated that an evaporative cooling approach is not a viable solution during the hot season and that containing cold air streams within the target zone is the most critical factor in developing an air delivery system for outdoor cooling.
The final day of the summit was highlighted by two post-conference workshops and the three-day summit then ended with a site visit to Qatar Cool’s integrated district cooling plant, which also happens to be the world’s largest district cooling plant located on The Pearl-Qatar.
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