DOHA: Qatar Cool, the leading provider of district cooling services in the country, will open its third plant in West Bay, with a cooling capacity of nearly 40,000 refrigeration tonnes.
District cooling (DC) is an innovative and energy efficient refrigeration system which delivers chilled water through an underground insulated pipeline to offices, residential units and factories needing cooling.
Recognised as the most cost effective and environment-friendly solution to satisfy Qatar’s growing cooling demand, Qatar Cool has been leading the focus on eco-friendly technologies in the region.
“Developers prefer district cooling. Not only does it reduce operating costs and building maintenance costs, but it also helps reduce carbon footprints, which is in line with the country’s national objectives. District cooling is very favourable because it offers a sustainable and environment-friendly solution to address the increasing cooling requirements in the country,” said Bader Al Meer, Chairman of Qatar Cool.
District cooling is significantly more cost effective over the longer term than conventional solutions. The production of cooling energy supplied to the 46 towers, Qatar Cool currently provides its services to in West Bay, has exceeded 170 million tonne hours in 2013, representing around 120 million kilowatt hour savings if the cooling load was provided by conventional methods.
This has led to an impressive saving of more than 50 million kilogram of CO2 emission. As well as working toward the wider community’s good, centralising the cooling systems in remote locations frees significant leasable and sellable areas in all buildings, which could be utilised for leisure amenities such as swimming pools and gardens. In a typical residential unit, for instance, a district cooling system can cut energy usage by 40-45 percent, compared to traditional climate control systems.
In addition to its West Bay plants, Qatar Cool also operates the world’s largest district cooling plant ‘The Integrated District Cooling Plant’ (IDCP) at The Pearl-Qatar. IDCP will service the entire residential and commercial facilities, ultimately supplying 130,000 tonnes of refrigeration to the Island’s 45,000 residents.
The Peninsula
