Empower launches $68.06m unmanned cooling plant in Dubai

Empower has announced the pilot operation of the world's first unmanned cooling plant at Jumeirah Village Circle in Dubai, with a total cooling capacity of 50,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT).

The $68.06 million plant uses artificial intelligence to monitor and adjust the water flow to and from the cooling plant, via the thermal energy storage (TES) technology, which helps to reduce the burden on the grid during peak hours. While the treated sewage effluent (TSE) technology is being used to conserve the natural resources.

Empower also announced that the plant will be connected to its centralised intelligent command control centre (CCC) which is operating an advanced SCADA system that provides the ability to read more than one million data entries from cooling towers about coolers, transformers and water supplies.

Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, said: "Leveraging artificial intelligence in the district cooling sector helps to lower annual operating costs and enhance the efficiency of facilities. The new plant in JVC is the first in a series of unmanned operating plants that we are preparing to develop with the aim of achieving the greatest energy savings, as well as keeping pace with the growing demand for eco-friendly cooling services that are playing a crucial role in combating climate change.”