To meet the cooling demands of residential and commercial towers in West Bay, Qatar Cool is preparing to open its third plant in the area.
Qatar Cool, in a statement, said its two cooling plants in West Bay are currently serving some 46 towers. With the opening of its third plant, the company can now provide residential and commercial towers with nearly 40,000TR (tonnes of refrigeration) of cooling, once operational.
The company "has been leading the focus on eco-friendly technologies in the region," which earned it the distinction as "the most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly solution" to meet Qatar's growing cooling demands."
West Bay is considered as one of Qatar's most prestigious areas with its luxury apartment towers, high-end office space, and prominent hotels.
"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," said Qatar Cool chairman Bader al-Meer.
"District cooling is very favourable because it offers a sustainable and environment-friendly solution to address the increasing cooling requirements in the country," he said.
In the long term, district cooling is significantly more cost-effective than conventional solutions. The production of cooling energy supplied by Qatar Cool to its clients in West Bay has exceeded 170mn tonne hour in 2013, representing around 120mn Kilowatt Hour savings if the cooling load was provided by conventional methods.
This has led to an impressive saving of more than 50mn kilograms of CO2 emission. Centralising the cooling systems in remote locations frees significant leasable and sellable areas in all buildings, which could be utilised for amenities such as swimming pools and gardens.
In a typical residential unit, a district cooling system can cut energy usage by 40 to 45%, compared to traditional climate control systems. Also, compared to traditional air conditioners, district cooling is quiet, centralised in one place, providing zero noise pollution.
In addition to its West Bay facilities, 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 supplying 130,000 tonnes of refrigeration to the island's 45,000 residents.
"There is still a lot of scope for expansion and so we want to make the best use of it. We are passionate about this industry and offering our clients the highest service standard," al-Meer said.
He added that Qatar Cool has received multiple international awards, including the one from the International District Energy Association (IDEA), which cited them as "the best district cooling system in the world" in 2012.
"Also, our district cooling service in the Pearl-Qatar has received an award of excellence from IDEA in 2013. Ultimately, our mission is to pass on the benefits of district cooling and our innovative technologies to society and the environment, which is a win-win situation for everybody," al-Meer said.
© Gulf Times 2014
