Johnson Controls Arabia has entered into a strategic partnership with Modern Building Leaders (MBL) to provide and operate a fully integrated YORK cooling system for the new CEER manufacturing facility in King Abdullah Economic City.

Johnson Controls Arabia is a global leader in HVAC systems, smart building controls, and energy efficiency.

The company said that its collaboration with CEER represents a significant advancement in Saudi Arabia’s industrial technology landscape and supports the Kingdom’s “trailblazing end-to-end electric vehicle brand.”

Under the agreement, Johnson Controls Arabia will deliver a state-of-the-art cooling solution powered by YORK technologies, featuring 12 chillers and various cooling units with a combined capacity of 33,000 TR.

The CEER facility, a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s electric vehicle industry, is designed to produce world-class electric cars, prioritising sustainability, efficiency, and cutting-edge technology.

The partnership aligns with the launch of the region’s first YORK air-cooled chiller production line, boasting a 600-ton capacity, at the YORK manufacturing complex in King Abdullah Economic City.

This milestone was accompanied by the opening of Saudi Arabia’s first AHRI-certified performance testing laboratory for air-cooled chillers of this capacity, cementing the Kingdom’s position as a regional hub for innovation in the HVAC and cooling sector.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by senior executives, including Tareq Telmesani, CEO of MBL, and Mohamed Fathy El-Bordany, Plant Facility and Maintenance Director at CEER.

This agreement underscores Johnson Controls Arabia’s commitment to supporting major manufacturing initiatives in Saudi Arabia, enhancing its role as a trusted partner in delivering high-efficiency, sustainable cooling solutions that meet global standards and bolstering the Kingdom’s industrial infrastructure.

Commenting on the milestone, Dr. Mohanad AlShaikh, CEO of Johnson Controls Arabia, stated, “We are proud to play a role in this ambitious national project that reflects our commitment to delivering smart, sustainable solutions aligned with Saudi Vision 2030. Our success in this initiative demonstrates the trust our partners place in YORK’s technical strength and reliability, and our ability to provide integrated solutions that rival the world’s leading providers, driven by expert engineering teams, fast execution, and excellent after-sales support.”

The watertech company Kumulus Water, which turns air into potable water, has raised US$3.5mn in seed money.

Bpifrance led the seed funding through France 2030 SGPI and the Île-de-France Region, with participation from other international regional and investors, including Plus VC, MENA's most active VC, Khalys Venture, Flat6Labs, Europe's leading bottled water group Spadel, and several family offices and founders from Europe and North Africa.

Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid founded Kumulus in 2021. The company creates and produces atmospheric water generators, which use air humidity to produce safe drinking water without having any pre-existing electrical or water infrastructure.

Across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, the company's technologies are currently in use in hotels, schools, and remote settlements.

With this financing, Kumulus will debut the Kumulus Boks, a new range of industrial-grade, cutting-edge Atmospheric Water Generators (AWG) that supply pure drinking water straight from air humidity, as well as expand operations in Tunisia, France, and Spain, and prepare for market entry into Saudi Arabia.

Producing water locally

“We’re deeply grateful to our existing and new investors for their trust and continued support,” said Iheb Triki, CEO and co-founder of Kumulus Water. “Their involvement is a strong vote of confidence in our technology and our vision. At Kumulus, we believe access to clean drinking water should not depend on existing infrastructure. With this funding, we’re taking a major step toward making clean water accessible, sustainable, and decentralised—especially for the communities that need it most.”

“This funding allows us to scale not just production, but impact,” said Mohamed Ali Abid, co-founder and CTO of Kumulus Water. “We have spent the past few years refining a technology that can operate reliably in some of the harshest and most water-stressed environments. Now, we are ready to deploy it at scale and bring truly off-grid, sustainable water access to more communities across the region and beyond.”

Hasan Haider, founder and managing partner at +VC, said, “Kumulus is building a scalable, climate-resilient solution to one of the most critical regional and global challenges-access to clean drinking water. At +VC, we invest in founders who are not only mission-driven, solving real-world problems but also executing with commercially scalable solutions. Kumulus fits that profile and is well-positioned for both regional and global growth. We’re excited to support their journey as they scale meaningful impact, making them stand out in the climate-tech space.”

“We believe the world needs complementary solutions to address the growing challenge of drinking water scarcity,” added Clément Yvorra, global business development manager at Spadel. “What convinced us is Kumulus’ ability to produce water locally, without packaging or transportation, offering a truly sustainable alternative.”

The International Code Council (ICC), a global authority on building safety and construction standards, will take part in the 7th edition of Big 5 Construct Egypt, held from 17-19 June 2025 at the Egypt International Exhibition Center.

Mohammed Amer, managing director – ICC MENA, will present a session titled “Highlighting the Impact of ICC on Innovative Building Practices in the MENA.”

His address will explore ICC’s expanding role in the region, with a focus on its International Codes (I-Codes) and the wider ICC Family of Solutions.

Using real-world case studies, Amer will demonstrate how ICC works with governments, developers, and industry experts to promote international best practices throughout the MENA construction ecosystem.

In Egypt, ICC plays a vital role in advocating for modern regulatory frameworks, encouraging safer, more sustainable infrastructure. Through strategic partnerships and capacity-building initiatives, the organisation continues to support the country’s construction growth, while aligning it with global standards.

Bringing together more than 350 exhibitors from over 20 countries, Big 5 Construct Egypt showcases cutting-edge innovations driving regional construction forward.

Held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, and supported by the Egyptian Armed Forces Engineering Authority, the event serves as a key platform for shaping the built environment in North Africa.

Speaking about ICC’s participation, Amer stated, “At ICC, our mission is to support governments and industry stakeholders in implementing internationally recognised codes and standards that enhance safety, resilience, and sustainability. In Egypt and across the GCC, our efforts have played a key role in advancing building regulatory modernisation, integrating smart technologies, and strengthening the professional capacity needed to apply best practices effectively.”

Power Metallic Mines Inc., a prominent exploration and development company, has been granted the exploration licence for the Jabal Baudan project in Saudi Arabia’s Jabal Sayid Mineralised Belt.

Power Metallic is now one of the few foreign companies to secure mining concessions in the Kingdom, following a successful bid in a competitive licensing process.

CEO Terry Lynch, said, "We are honoured to have been awarded the Jabal Baudan exploration license, marking a pivotal step in our strategy to expand our portfolio into one of the world's most promising mineral belts. This achievement underscores our commitment to advancing mineral exploration globally and highlights our ability to secure high-value assets in competitive jurisdictions."

Strategic location in a mineral-rich region

The Jabal Baudan property, spanning over 200 sq km, is the largest of seven exploration packages offered in the Jabal Sayid belt.

Located approximately 150 km south of Jeddah along the western Red Sea coastal plain, the site is highly prospective for copper, gold, and zinc mineralisation.

The region is renowned for its volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits, including the world-class Jabal Sayid Mine and the promising Umm ad Damar deposit.

Situated in rugged mountainous terrain intersected by wadi systems draining to the Red Sea, Jabal Baudan is underlain by late Proterozoic volcanic, volcaniclastic, and sedimentary rocks, intruded by younger plutonic rocks ranging from gabbro to granite.

This geological setting mirrors that of the nearby Umm Hiljan deposit, indicating strong potential for VMS-style mineralisation.

Historical exploration by BRGM, Riofinex, and USGS between 1966 and 1985 identified siliceous volcanic rocks and “ironstone,” suggesting mineralising systems conducive to VMS deposits.

Exploration strategy and support

Power Metallic plans to utilise historical aeromagnetic survey data to refine its exploration approach and pinpoint priority target areas.

The project is supported by Saudi Arabia’s Exploration Enablement Program (EEP), a US$182mn initiative designed to stimulate and de-risk mineral exploration investments.

The EEP offers up to US$2mn per exploration licence, with a cap of 15 licences per company, fostering knowledge exchange and growth.

This support will enable Power Metallic to enhance its geological understanding of Jabal Baudan and prioritise high-potential zones for advanced exploration.

"The Jabal Baudan site is located at the heart of the most prospective region of Saudi Arabia. It is easily reachable by world quality infrastructure and initial samples have confirmed strong potential for a large range of minerals" Dr Remi Piet, senior partner at Embellie Advisory.

AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, has been named the 2025 Databricks Manufacturing ISV Partner of the Year. Announced at the annual Data + AI Summit, the recognition honours AVEVA’s outstanding contributions to data-driven innovation in the manufacturing sector.

Over the past year, AVEVA has partnered closely with Databricks to launch a pioneering integrative solution via its CONNECT industrial intelligence platform.

This collaboration redefines how industrial and enterprise data are unified, analysed, and actioned, solving a critical challenge in modern industry: converting fragmented OT and IT data into meaningful, trusted insights.

By combining the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform with CONNECT, users can securely integrate industrial and enterprise data in an open, scalable, and governed way, using Delta Sharing, Databricks’ open-source technology for cross-platform, cross-cloud live data sharing.

This enables advanced capabilities such as AI, machine learning, and real-time analytics to be applied to previously siloed data sets.

As a result, manufacturers can now use CONNECT with Databricks to drive smarter decision-making, predictive maintenance, demand forecasting, sustainability tracking, safety improvements, and enhanced operational efficiency, while reducing development time and costs, and accelerating time-to-value.

“At AVEVA, we’re proud to have established Databricks and Delta Sharing as key foundation-stones of our strategy for our industrial intelligence platform, CONNECT,” said Bry Dillon, SVP of Partners and Commercial Strategy at AVEVA.

“Together, we’re enabling our joint customers to access real-time insights, accelerate AI, and deliver tangible outcomes across the industrial landscape. Our partnership with Databricks marks a pivotal moment in the advancement of industrial AI. This collaboration presents a powerful opportunity to accelerate the deployment of AI-driven solutions and drive greater industry wide collaboration — capabilities that are needed for companies across the industrial sector to stay relevant, remain competitive, and build efficient, sustainable businesses of the future.

"We are thrilled to name AVEVA the 2025 Databricks Manufacturing ISV Partner of the Year," said Shiv Trisal, Global Manufacturing, Transportation & Energy GTM Leader at Databricks. "As more enterprises leverage data intelligence to solve challenges across the manufacturing and energy industries, AVEVA's partnership with Databricks is essential to helping organisations everywhere harness the full potential of their data."

Jamal S. Abki, general manager of Grandweld Shipyards, speaks to Technical Review Middle East on the company's latest updates. Read on: 

Grandweld recently decided to generate a major portion of its energy through solar power. What drove this shift?

We believe that sustainability should not be treated as just a passing trend but a long-term strategic priority. Our decision to shift to solar power was driven by a deep commitment to align with the UAE’s forward-thinking environmental vision, particularly the Dubai Clean Energy 2050 and Dubai Net Zero Emissions Strategy 2050. Today, we generate 50% of our total energy needs through our solar power project, which has a current production capacity of 569 kWp, supporting both our ship building operations and our offices.

By becoming the first shipbuilder in the region to adopt solar power at this scale, we aim not only to reduce our carbon footprint but also to demonstrate that sustainable shipbuilding is both achievable and scalable. Our goal is to become a 100% green shipyard by the end of this year, with Phase Two of the project expected to conclude soon and set to increase total capacity to 1.3 MW. 

^{The Grandweld shipyard's solar rooftop}

What are some of the most transformative technologies currently being adopted at Grandweld?

The integration of advanced technologies has significantly enhanced the efficiency and precision of our operations. Having an in-house facility allows us to maintain full control over quality and timelines.

We have adopted high-precision tools like Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology into our shipbuilding and repair processes, including a state-of-the-art 4-axis CNC lathe machines, which enables us to produce complex, high-precision components tailored to client specifications, whether for small-batch production or high-volume orders.

Additionally, the use of Optical Emission Spectrometers (OES) technology enhances quality control and operational efficiency, especially in raw material or sample identification.

We further offer specialised 4-stroke engine services and refurbish marine alternators through precise rewinding techniques that extend their operational life. Moreover, our vessels, such as the recently delivered FNSA 7, are equipped with real-time remote monitoring systems and full digitalisation packages. These technologies support predictive maintenance and continuous performance tracking, helping reduce downtime and improve overall vessel reliability.

^{Jamal Abki, general manager of Grandweld Shipyards}

Can you tell us more about your foray into military vessel construction and how you see this segment evolving in terms of scalability and innovation?

With the Middle East military vehicles market estimated at US$34.25bn in 2025 and expected to reach US$46.49bn by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.3%, our transition into the defence sector has been both timely and impactful. We have secured US$65.8mn across 15 shipbuilding projects within the GCC and successfully delivered 12 vessels, underscoring our position as a trusted partner for both commercial and defence clients. 

Our initial military supplies, including a 45m Fast Attack Craft and a 17m Interceptor Vessel, met stringent defence standards and showcased our technical expertise, highlighted by the Interceptor’s surface drive propulsion system and the Fast Attack Craft’s precision performance.

^{A military vessel built by Grandweld}

Building on this momentum, we made a strong statement at NAVDEX 2025 with the unveiling of two advanced naval security platforms. One was the FA-400 Offshore Patrol Vessel, co-developed with ADSB and EDGE for ISR, zone surveillance, and rapid-strike operations. The other one was a 21-meter high-speed, lightweight Patrol Vessel designed for coastal defence.

Defence clients are now increasingly demanding modular vessel designs that allow multi-mission reconfiguration, integrated sensor suites, and hybrid propulsion systems. Our future roadmap includes expanding our defence portfolio with vessels offering enhanced automation and mission flexibility, ensuring Grandweld remains at the forefront of naval innovation amidst an evolving geopolitical landscape.

How is Grandweld contributing to designing vessels that support regional trade and sustainability goals?

From aluminium-hull crew boats that offer low-emission, high-speed personnel transfers to offshore patrol vessels designed for secure navigation in high-traffic zones, every vessel is purpose-built to optimise performance and minimise environmental impact.

To further align with the UAE’s green economy vision, we are also investing in next-generation shipbuilding technologies that promote sustainability and efficiency. Our focus includes integrating energy-efficient propulsion systems, advanced automation, and modular designs that not only reduce waste but also increase vessel versatility. These innovations support both economic resilience and environmental stewardship, enabling our clients to meet rigorous operational demands while advancing sustainability goals.