(MENAFN - Arab News) A senior official of Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, said yesterday that its programs and projects in the Kingdom are geared at reducing the energy consumption in the Kingdom.
"Schneider solutions could reduce energy by 30 percent in existing buildings and by 70 percent in new installations started by the company," Campagne told a press conference yesterday. The company has also put in place plans to tackle the growing energy challenge confronting Saudi Arabia.
The media briefing followed the launch of the company's flagship event, "You Deserve an Efficient Enterprise" (UDEE) exhibition, which has been designed as a three-city tour across Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. Featuring over 16 booths that showcase Schneider Electric's wide-ranging portfolio of solutions and applications, the exhibition will draw the participation of key stakeholders including partners, distributors, system integrators and VIPs including energy management specialists, consultants and contractors, as well as ministry, governmental, educational, and health care organization representatives. The traveling exhibition will conclude in Dammam on May 6.
Speaking about the energy consumption in the Kingdom, Campagne said due to the increasing population and rapid industrialization throughout the Kingdom, there was an increase of 8 percent in the energy demand annually. He also pointed out that existing buildings could be modified with Schneider solutions to reduce energy consumption. "If it is a new building, we can deploy all our mechanisms to optimize the energy consumption by making it Smart buildings in keeping with the modern technology," Campagne said, adding that such buildings will be efficient enough to give the best benefit to the end-users be at homes, factories, or commercial complexes.
Explaining the purpose of holding a massive campaign on Schneider Electric's energy solutions, Campagne said: "We want to tell our clients and people in the Kingdom about our products and services that can be tailored to contribute to the growing energy demand in the country.
Dwelling on his company's performances, he highlighted a 12 percent growth in new economies, as well as significant investment and expansion strategies that include the recruitment of up to 30 percent more work force in 2012. He said some 800 men and women were in the existing work force.
Indicating a strong positive growth, he said Saudi Arabia notched the highest sales in the Africa and Middle East region, accounting for 60 percent of GCC sales and 30 percent of Middle East sales.
Schneider Electric's overall report "Rest of the World" has further revealed that the momentum in other parts of the Middle East, as well as Russia and Latin America was equally robust, driven by the continued investment in infrastructure and natural resource sectors.
Ahmed Al-Rashoud, vice president of Schneider Electric, Saudi Arabia, said the remarkable wins in Saudi Arabia complement Schneider Electric's regional growth during 2011. They include the ambitious Information Technology and Communication Complex (ITCC) in Riyadh - one of Schneider Electric's largest and most important on-going projects, King Saud University (KSU) Girls' Campus electrical infrastructure solution - for which Schneider Electric received the Best Electricity Project of the Year Award at the Buildinfra Awards, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Microsoft Innovation Centre (MIC) at Al Yamamah University, and the Arab National Bank (ANB) that saw Schneider Electric implementing advanced mission critical data center solutions.
Schneider Electric also announced the completion of new commercial buildings in Makkah, Riyadh and Jubail. Plans for a new manufacturing unit, additional warehousing space, and fresh production localization programs were also outlined.
Moving forward, the global pioneer in energy management aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions in Saudi Arabia. The move, which reiterates its leading role in tackling the country's energy dilemma, comes on the back of Saudi Arabia registering the world's highest energy consumption per capita, fastest population growth, and significant industrialization plans that translate into a seven to eight per cent rise in energy demand.
Additionally, the statistics shared by the UN body, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center validate that Saudi Arabia is estimated to be the 10th largest carbon dioxide emitting nation with 493,726 (thousands of CO2 metric tons) of emissions, and the first in emissions per person at 18.2 (tons of CO2 per year).
The participation came on the back of the company's success in winning the prestigious Zayed Future Energy Prize (ZFEP) at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi.
During the year, Schneider Electric also demonstrated its commitment to its recruitment plan for Saudi graduates by actively engaging in the Saudization drive through participation at the Liqa'at Employment Event. Additionally, the company is looking to aggressively build the capacity of its Saudi workforce as part of an overarching objective to scale up its manpower by up to 30 percent.
By MD RASOOLDEEN
