With more than $8 billion being spent in Dubai for retrofitting buildings, its positive impact on cutting the emirate's energy consumption is driving top industry players to look beyond building retrofits into industrial retrofits and solar power projects.

The positive impact that retrofitting is having on reducing the energy consumption in Dubai, UAE, will be the central focus at the upcoming annual RetrofitTech Dubai Summit & Awards.

The premier thought leadership event, which will be held from April 10 to 11 at Roda Al Bustan Hotel, Dubai, will showcase some of the latest innovation and retrofit technology being introduced to the market and the sustainability benefits being gained from the billions of dollars of investment that have been made in the emirates.

The Dubai Supreme Council of Energy has set the goal of reducing energy demand by 30 per cent by 2030. To achieve this goal, retrofitting and refurbishing existing buildings has been identified as a core strategy to reduce overall energy demand.

Dubai’s Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad Esco), which specialises in retrofitting buildings in Dubai, will aim to increase the share of central cooling in the emirate to 40 per cent by 2030.

Etihad Esco announced last year that it is planning to implement up to $43.56 million worth of projects this year, diversifying beyond building retrofits into industrial retrofits and solar power projects.

Esco has awarded the tender in May 2017 for the development and installation of solar photovoltaic systems at 640 villas for UAE Nationals in Hatta.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) is currently retrofitting more than 30,000 buildings in the emirate to ensure energy efficiency and manage energy demand.

The project is worth a total current investment of $8.17 billion and expected to achieve financial savings of US$ 22.33 billion.

"We believe this event will provide an ideal platform to know more about the development and growth plans of the UAE’s Retrofit sector," said Ali Al-Jassim, CEO of Etihad Esco.

"Dubai’s outstanding effort in retrofitting buildings in the past years has helped generate energy and water savings across the emirate. We are looking forward to continuing and accelerating the progress of this to help us achieve our target of retrofitting 30,000 buildings by 2030," noted Al Jassim.

"We have the pleasure of hosting the 4th Annual RetrofitTech Summit & Awards where we will announce all of our planned projects for 2018-19 and look at the different types and scope of retrofits we will be embarking on," he said.

"Our partners in the public and private sectors will join us for the event to get the chance to examine the progress made so far, and look at the potential to save electricity and water through smart and innovative retrofits," he added.-TradeArabia News Service