Emirates Central Cooling Corporation (Empower) has projected that its customer base will reach 16,000 by the end of 2010, up 60 per cent when compared to 10,000 customers last year.

Empower is a joint venture between Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and Tecom Investments that has world class work stations being built on various locations across Dubai.

The district cooling systems of Empower provide effective and efficient means of air conditioning. Water is first cooled in central plants and distributed through a network of piping systems to individual customer buildings.

Empower provides district cooling service to a wide array of projects in Dubai including Dubai International Financial Center, Dubai Healthcare City, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Business Bay and City Of Arabia.

With this, Empower will become the largest district cooling service provider in the region with regards to the number of customers, said its top official.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, said the company had succeeded in boosting the demand for district cooling services through a well-rounded community outreach strategy.

'We have spread the message that this new technology delivers optimal results not only to customers but also to the society at a socio-economic level by reducing electricity and water consumption and conserving the environment,' Bin Shafar explained.

“A clear evidence on the success of our strategy is the growth we have achieved in the numbers of customers whom we consider our partners regardless of the size of their adoption of our services,” he added.

After 12 years of being adopted commercially, district cooling services providers in the UAE with Empower topping the list have developed a world class district cooling infrastructure and network.

Against the latest equipments and solutions, the company has worked on enhancing the awareness of society to the importance of this technology in saving the operating and maintenance costs and its user friendliness and high level of conserving the environment.

The operational savings percentage in a residential unit compared with conventional AC technologies ranges between 40 and 45 per cent. The technology is considered an ideal economic and environmental solution for residential and commercial units, offices and hotels in the Gulf area.

District cooling service results in less capital and operating costs, thus reducing air-conditioning set-up and energy costs per building. This is encouraging more customers to demand the service.

According to Bin Shafar, Empower has achieved this big number of customers base at a time the company plans to diversify its services and provide more energy saving efficient solutions.

'Empower has advanced centralized plants providing round the clock world class services based on fully automated electronic system,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service