Empower completes fibre optic network at three major district cooling plants in Dubai

The new system is designed to conserve water resources used in cooling as well as enhancing the efficacy and quality of service to customers.

Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower said: "This new system is part of Empower's series of green initiatives driven by the directive of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to protect the environment. We are implementing this world class control system project across three of our district cooling networks in Mirdif area, JISA and Tecom C area."

There control systems are installed in the building ETS (Energy Transfer Stations). Fibre optic cable has been laid and plant SCADA System is implemented interconnecting the ETS with all the plants. In this project, the control systems across the buildings are connected on a fibre optic network which is connected to the District Cooling Plants in that area. This helps the control system in the District Cooling Plants to serve the chilled water requirements more closely and in an efficient manner.

Various operational parameters of the building Energy Transfer Stations (ETS) are continuously monitored and stored in the plant SCADA - Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System. The control system in the building continuously monitors the chilled water temperatures and regulates the chilled water flow. This is done to meet the temperature obligations of Empower towards its customers without compromising on the efficient use of the chilled water.

Bin Shafar added: "Implementation of such systems maximizes the efficiency of the plants and the overall system which benefits the district cooling provider and the building owners."

As a leader among district cooling companies in the Middle East, Empower's strategy is based on protecting the environment by increasing the usage of district cooling systems. In relevance to that strategy, the company managed to reduce the consumption of desalinated water in district cooling through deploying reverse osmosis technology in some of its large plants in the UAE.

Bin Shafar added: "The use of TSE water through this new technique adopted by Empower was in line with the directives of Dubai Government to reduce the consumption of desalinated water in the cooling process."

This technology is used in the desalination of sea water and brackish water as well as in desalination of treated sewage water, bilateral or trilateral, where they can reduce the salinity of the water and purify it.