Seeley International wins $50 million contract to install air conditioning for Mecca tent city ahead of Hajj pilgrimage

THE huge tent city of Mecca, one of the hottest places on the planet and filled with millions of Muslim pilgrims, will be cooled by the work of one Adelaide company — creating 100 jobs.

Frank Seeley, at Seeley International in Lonsdale with bespoke Breezair fixed evaporative air conditioners made and sent to Saudi Arabia. The company has installed 50,000 of the units into a tent city on the outskirts of Mecca.

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THE huge tent city of Mecca, one of the hottest places on the planet and filled with millions of Muslim pilgrims, will be cooled by the work of one Adelaide company.

The $50 million project — the world’s largest order for air conditioning to cool a sprawling tent city in Islam’s holy hub — was awarded to Lonsdale-based Seeley International.

It will support up to 100 local jobs.

The company, founded by Frank Seeley, is installing 50,000 evaporative units pumping cool relief into the tent city comprising more than 100,000 dwellings, on the eastern outskirts of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.

The raft of cooling, due to be completed in July, will greet a procession of millions of Muslims, many who will have walked for up to five days in 40-45C temperatures for the annual Hajj pilgrimage on August 19.

The giant order for Seeley’s Breezair units came from the Saudi Government and Ministry of Hajj to improve conditions for the “Makkah Pilgrims” during their stay in the Mina Valley tent city.

It was a fascinating logistic exercise, said Mr Seeley, “against a comprehensive set of criteria that included energy-efficiency, reliability, performance and low environmental impact”.

After a three-year tender process, the local Breezair units were chosen from a field of about 200 brands.

Mr Seeley said he believed up to 90 other contenders from around the world were tested at the Mecca site, in all conditions.

The local evaporative system was chosen because it was energy efficient, it provided continual fresh air, and because “it will not dry out the skin, nose or eyes”.

Its unique “mini-cell” cooling pad technology, has helped the Mina Valley city record a 35 per cent energy saving.

The evaporative cooling pads, designed for harsh climates, are made in Australia, said Mr Seeley, who has established a local “imagineering” department employing more than 30 engineers and technicians, to keep the company “ahead of the world”.

He said the Saudi success had led to his company being courted by many other Middle Eastern countries.

Mr Seeley, 76, started the company, moving from selling air conditioners to building them in his garage, in Seaton, in 1972. In a major industry breakthrough, he created plastic parts to solve erosion issues.

He said the company would always be based in Adelaide, “because with innovation and automation we can beat the world”. Seeley is now Australia’s largest air conditioning manufacturer, employing 650 people here, and at factories in Albury, in NSW, and the US. It exports to more than 100 countries.