Bahrain establishments can cut their energy consumption by more than 50 per cent thanks to new methods.

The solutions will lead to a noticeable reduction in costs and a more environmentally friendly Bahrain, according to MAF Dalkia.

The company says it implemented its optimising energy scheme in many of the malls owned by Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim Group.

After six months of training and installing technical equipment, the company says it achieved 25 per cent savings in the shopping malls.

At Bahrain City Centre's Wahooo water park, a client of MAF Dalkia, the company managed to reduce fuel consumption of the boilers by 60 per cent, said officials.

'The solution is to add energy management to normal facilities management,' said company chief executive officer Alexandre Mussallam.

Sustainable energy management solutions can prolong the life of equipment, reduce costs and preserve the environment, he added.

'Without sustainable energy management solutions, your net results will be affected,' said Mussallam.

'If you consume more energy, you use more equipment and the lifetime of the equipment becomes shorter, instead of 20 years you would have to replace them in 15 years.'

After the financial crisis, cost-effectiveness has become a major priority for companies, he said.

'The running cost of any facility is a very important component, this is the kind of know-how that Dalkia group has brought to the Middle East,' said Mussallam.

He said today there were more international players who have sustainable energy management programmes who bring this sense of conservation to Bahrain and the Gulf.

'They have to follow these programmes and report to the headquarters in Europe and the US and so on,' said Mussallam.

MAF Dalkia is a joint venture set up between Dalkia International and Majid Al Futtaim Group with the intention of providing energy management services for clients in the Middle East.

Established in Bahrain, MAF Dalkia has 100 employees, 50 per cent of whom are Bahrain nationals.

Last December, MAF Dalkia's shareholder company, Veolia Environment, came to the Middle East for training workshops with models used in Europe. MAF Dalkia technicians and engineers from Bahrain were sent to the UAE to attend.

'Our service is for the people, we have a big interest in transferring our know-how to the local population,' said MAF Dalkia Bahrain director Arnaud Martinez.

'It is better to have more Bahrainis to be trained.'

The energy optimising solutions not only cut costs, but also directly save the environment, he said.

'By saving energy from our client we directly save the environment, by consuming less fuel, less electricity or water,' said Martinez.

MAF Dalkia has taken many steps to try and capitalise on this expertise obtained from Europe and preserve the environment, he added.

'This is a real commitment from MAF Dalkia, not because of regulation but because of our social responsibility and the name of the company,' said Martinez.

'In all our operations, we have implemented recycling systems, not only paper or carton but also used bulbs and metals, to try and recycle as much as possible.'

However, in order for Bahrain to reach the European level of being environmentally friendly, government regulation and intervention is vital, said Martinez.

'If you want to move fast, the government has to implement regulations,' he said.-TradeArabia News Service