UAE-based district cooling utility company Tabreed has announced that its annual energy savings in 2013 reached 1.2 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), a major achievement for the company.

This significant reduction in energy consumption translates into the elimination of 570,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, equivalent to the removal of over 110,000 cars from the streets, said a statement from the Abu Dabi firm.

In the UAE alone, Tabreed’s 60 district cooling plants achieved a total energy saving of 1 billion kWh, with the remaining 200 million kWh savings produced in the company’s six plants located in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, it stated.

Commenting on the feat, CEO Jasim Husain Thabet said cooling accounts for 50 per cent of total energy consumption in the GCC region and 70 per cent during the peak summer months.
 
"With an expanding population, economic growth and diversification underway, as well as continued industrialization, it is becoming increasingly vital that reliable, energy-efficient and eco-friendlier cooling solutions are utilized in order to meet our growing cooling requirements," Thabet noted.

“As a key infrastructure partner, Tabreed is proud of the role it plays in enabling the region’s, and in particular the UAE’s economic and social development. By decreasing the energy consumed for cooling, we are simultaneously able to protect the environment, lower our carbon footprint, and play a modest role in helping the UAE realize its vision of a sustainable economy,” he stated.

Tabreed’s district cooling services are delivered to many of the UAE’s iconic projects and landmarks including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit, Dubai Metro, and Etihad Towers, the company said in a statement.

In the GCC, Tabreed provides cooling to key projects such as The Pearl – Qatar, and the Aramco establishments in the Eastern region of Saudi Arabia.-TradeAraba News Service