Environment & Energy | Sunday 31 March, 2019 3:25 pm |

Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), the world's largest district cooling services provider, announced its support to the ‘Earth Hour’ initiative 2019 by participating  in the walkathon and other activities organised by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, at Marasi Promenade – Marasi Business Bay. The initiative aims to educate people about the importance of saving electricity, preserving natural resources and protecting the environment by reducing carbon emissions that are the main cause of climate change, and one of the major challenges and dangers facing the earth.

As part of its efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues, preserve resources, and to find sustainable solutions to global warming, Empower  participated in the Earth hour by switching off the lights in its plants and reduced power consumption of chillers by relying on its thermal storage tanks for delivering the cooling services on Saturday, March 30, from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. Company’s staff also took  part in the activities of the initiative, including Earth Hour walk and Empower’s customers were also invited to participate in the event to support environmental conservation and preservation of natural resources.

“We are happy to participate in the ‘Earth Hour’ initiative every year, a major annual global event where lights and electrical appliances are switched off for an hour between 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. At Empower we reduced the power consumption of chillers by relying on our thermal storage tanks for delivering the cooling services in order to raise awareness on the importance of saving electricity and promoting environmental practices, in addition to reminding individuals and organisations of their responsibility to protect the environment through conservation of natural resources. It is an opportunity to alert society on the consequences of wasting energy, which increases carbon emissions and causes negative effects on the environment, leading to global warming,” said Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower.

Bin Shafar highlighted that Empower aligns its strategy with national strategies that implement the vision of the UAE’s wise leadership, represented by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to ensure that Dubai is the most sustainable city in the world, through the  execution of Demand Side Management Strategy, to reduce energy consumption by 30% by 2030, and the UAE Energy Strategy, which aims to increase energy efficiency by 40% and reduce carbon footprint of power generation by 70% by 2050.

Bin Shafar stressed that Empower supports national and international efforts to reduce carbon emissions through several measures, mainly the continuous development of its systems and technologies. Empower constantly launches initiatives targeting investors to adopt environmentally friendly district cooling systems as they contribute to enhancing energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. District cooling solutions saves 50% of energy, compared to conventional cooling systems.

Empower has more than 1,090 buildings that are using district cooling services, catering to more than 100,000 customers. The company operates more than 1.43 Million Refrigeration Tons (RT), providing environmentally friendly district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments, such as Deira Water front, Bluewaters, 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, amongst others.