海湾合作委员会（GCC）六国的总人口从1970年的630万人激增至如今的6300万人。这一快速城市化导致制冷需求暴增，目前区域内高达三分之二（66.7%）的峰值用电量用于空调系统。为了减少能源消耗并应对气候变化，沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋和卡塔尔正大力推广区域供冷系统（District Cooling）。在部分海湾城市，区域供冷已承担了25%的制冷需求。该技术通过中央制冷站循环冷水，相比传统独立空调可节省高达80%的电能，相比楼宇集中制冷也可降低30%的用能。

海湾企业在极端气候制冷技术上处于全球领先地位。阿联酋公司Tabreed在迪拜市中心运营着全球规模最大的区域供冷项目，覆盖包括哈利法塔和迪拜购物中心在内的80座建筑；该公司声称，该项目每年减少的碳排放量相当于从道路上减少4万辆汽车。此外，海湾国家通过使用处理后的废水或海水替代淡水，解决了区域供冷的耗水难题，并开始将该技术应用于高耗能的人工智能（AI）数据中心冷却。

随着全球变暖及AI算力扩张，联合国引用的相关预测显示，到2050年全球制冷需求将增长至目前的三倍；另有行业预测指出，到2034年全球区域供冷市场规模将翻倍达到600亿美元。Tabreed正在印度海得拉巴建设亚洲最大的区域供冷系统（当地需求预计在未来十年增长8倍），并扩展至埃及市场。虽然区域供冷在长期运营中比其他方案便宜约40%，但高昂的初期建设成本仍是其在更广泛地区推广的主要壁垒。 

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) petro-monarchies have seen their combined population swell from 6.3 million in 1970 to 63 million today. This rapid growth has made cooling consume up to two-thirds (66.7%) of peak electricity demand in the region. To curb energy use, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are expanding district-cooling technology, which already supplies 25% of cooling in select Gulf cities. By chilling water at central plants, district cooling consumes 30% less power than building-wide systems and up to 80% less than individual air-conditioning units.

Emirati firm Tabreed operates the world's largest district-cooling scheme in downtown Dubai, serving 80 major structures including the Burj Khalifa and reducing carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to removing 40,000 cars from roads annually. To protect scarce freshwater supplies, regional plants utilize treated wastewater and seawater. Furthermore, Gulf operators are adapting these cooling networks to service energy-intensive artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, testing specialized thermal particles to enhance heat absorption.

Driven by rising global temperatures and expanding AI infrastructure, the UN estimates global cooling demand will triple by 2050, while market forecasts project the district-cooling sector will double to $60 billion by 2034. In response, Tabreed is developing Asia's largest district-cooling network in Hyderabad, India—where cooling demand is expected to increase eightfold over the next decade—and expanding into Egypt. Despite offering 40% lower long-term operating costs, high initial capital requirements remain the primary obstacle to adoption outside wealthy markets.

Source: They want to sell their technology to the world

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Dateline: Jul 23rd 2026