The District Cooling Stakeholders Summit to host over 150 project stakeholders in March 2013

Saudi Electric Company projects an increase in demand to 75,155 MW by 2020 from 41,043 MW in 2009 and district cooling can play a vital role in minimizing this electricity demand.

With large developments already underway in the 6 major cities of the Kingdom, district cooling is becoming the primary choice for all the major developers.

Electricity capacity shortages, constrained resources and system failures during peak summer months are the factors leading to the appeal of District Cooling in real time, across the Kingdom.

As an economical and sustainable cooling solution for project stakeholders, district cooling will tackle the surge in demand for electricity requirements thereby conserving 70% to 90% of this constricted power supply which will pave a path to an environment friendly and energy saving system in Saudi Arabia.

Though the initial investment to set up district cooling system is high as compared to conventional air conditioning,reduced operating and maintenance costs owing to savings in the long term are definitely a plus.

Crossing over to 2013, The Kingdom is investing over 5.3 Billion US Dollars to boost the development of district cooling, power and water plant utility projects. Fleming Gulf's DC (District Cooling) Stakeholders Summit which will take place between 3 - 5 March 2013 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia will set a trend of discussions and dialogue to over 150 project stakeholders who are aligned to safeguarding The Kingdom's electricity and water challenges. These project stakeholders have considered the deployment of District Cooling technologies as the imperative cooling utility business model for 2013 & the future.

The key note address will be delivered by H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al-Shehri, Governor, Electricity & Co-Generation Regulatory Authority (ECRA), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Saudi Tabreed will participate as the Official Host.

Leading industry speakers will share their views on the current challenges towards electricity consumption in the Kingdom and the need for DC in this environment. Advancements in cooling towers, integration of DC with smart grid infrastructure and thermal energy storage, treated sewage effluent, solar cooling, renewables, to name a few, will also feature in the presentations at the summit.