RIYADH — The importance of efficient cooling power generation technology was emphasized by senior Saudi utility officials and key industry leaders during the District Cooling and Tri-Generation Summit here on Sunday. The Governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, Dr. Abdullah M. Al Shehri, said that a range of power generation technologies were currently being considered, including tri-generation and renewables, in order to meet Saudi Arabia's growing needs. “The long term plan that we are now developing will hopefully be completed by April or May 2015,” said Al Shehri. “We will have all the outcomes then — what type of technology shall we look at and how much savings will be provided by each technology, and how much the cost will be and so on.” Under current ECRA projections, peak demand in the Kingdom is expected to hit 120 gigawatts by 2032. During the conference, district cooling was put forward as a viable way to dramatically reduce air conditioning cost while increasing efficiency, both vitally important to the Kingdom where electricity demand soars in summer with heavy air conditioning use. “About 50 percent of power generation goes to air conditioning consumption,” said the vice governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, Nasser Al Qahtani, during his keynote session on the first day of the conference. Keynote sessions at the conference examined the role district cooling can play in reducing peak power demand, as well as recent progress in efficient desalination technologies. A keynote session was also presented by Ali Al-Najim, the founder and deputy chairman of the Saudi Green building Council, a non-profit organization promoting green building standards in Saudi Arabia. Over 100 participants witnessed multiple presentations, panel discussions and case studies. The keynote presentations on “Royal Commission for Jubail: Responsible and equitable investment in district cooling” which underlined the development opportunities for Saudi Arabia was delivered by Ahmed M. Hassan, Director of Engineering Royal Commission for Jubail. Other highlights included topics on “Is the current applied district cooling technology outdated” presented by George Berbari, CEO, DC Pro Engineering and “Treated sewage effluent for district cooling: a reliable feasible source” was presented by Montazar Muhalhal, Director Treated Sewage Effluent Business Unit, National Water Company, Saudi Arabia. The conference was developed by Nispana Innovative Platforms with the support of the ECRA.
