Cool display helps Arab state to land Fifa prize

AN IRISH engineering company is claiming some of the credit for the success of Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Mercury Engineering supplied the cooling and air conditioning system for a 500-seat showcase stadium which was part of Qatar’s presentation to Fifa last September.

The company is now hoping to be awarded contracts to install similar systems in the stadiums which will be built for the event.

The construction of nine new stadiums is planned as well as the refurbishment of three existing venues.

Mercury managing director Michael Kennedy said contracts to install air-conditioning could be worth up to €80 million per stadium. “We would be very hopeful of getting those contracts. We’ve worked very closely with the people involved and we’re already well established and have a very good reputation in the area.” The company is currently involved in two infrastructural projects in the area in Lusail and Barwa.

Average temperatures in Qatar in June and July can reach 45 degrees, making it impossible to play or even watch football matches. The Mercury cooling system reduces the temperature to about 23 degrees and produces no emissions.

The system works by using solar power to heat tubes of water to 200 degrees before their energy is converted into cooling vast freezer packs that sit under the stadium and reduce outside temperatures from above 40 degrees to the low 20s within 14 hours.

When the Fifa delegation visited Qatar in September to inspect and watch a five-a-side match in the showcase stadium, the temperature was a “very pleasant” 20 degrees, Mr Kennedy said.

Almost 160 Mercury employees worked on the 10-week project to supply air-conditioning to the showcase stadium.

The company has been working in the Middle East since 2004, but its headquarters are in Sandyford, Dublin.

It also has offices in the UK and Russia.

It employs 2,000 people, about 850 of whom are Irish. It recently hired 25 Irish graduates to work on developing potential projects in the Middle East.