DISTRICT COOLING SERVICE

A Myth OR Reality?

Why, What, How & When…

Jaygopal KottililSenior Manager (MEP Engineering)

Doha25th February 2015

District Cooling ‐ History• District Cooling Service (DCS) came into GCC beginning of 2000.• DCS has been in existence in North America and Europe much earlier.

District Cooling in GCC – Giant awakening!

Cooling Forecast• $400b for building

construction in GCC incoming 8‐10 years!!!

• What does it mean for cooling?

• 2,000,000 Refrigerant Tons has to be produced…

Electricity Usage n Qatar

Electricity Usage in Buildings

District Cooling ‐Why?• High service reliability (around 99.94%)• Greatly reduces M&E spaces inside buildings• Considerably lowers total installed TR as a result of multiple 

diversity factors• Significantly lesser total connected, consumed and peak power 

demand• Smaller power distribution network infrastructure• Provides opportunity for phased development• Reduced power generation cost• Conserves hydrocarbon reserves• Supports national economy growth

District Cooling in Qatar

• West Bay (118,000 TR)• The Pearl (130,000 TR)• Education City (150,000 TR)• Barwa City & Commercial Avenue ( 38,000 TR)• Qatar Petroleum District (20,000 TR)• Musheireb (30,000 TR)• LUSAIL City ( 350,000 TR)

• Qatar Rail???

What is District Cooling?

What is in a DCP?

Outside DCP – CHW Reticulation

Factors influencing DCS decision

Investment’s CAPEX & OPEX

Investment’s Life Cycle Cost

Phased Expansion Capability

End User TARIFF ‐ Is it lucrative? 

RULE OF THUMB

CAPITAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Plant & Equipment Cost• Chilled Water Reticulation Piping Network• Electrical Infrastructure Cost• Civil Work Cost

OPERATING CONSIDERATIONS

• Maintenance cost• Electricity cost• Water cost (TSE and/or Sea Water)• TSE ‐ Availability, Further treatment• Sea Water ‐ Further treatment, Intake/Discharge• Sea Water ‐MOE Permission critical

PHASED EXPANSION

• Incremental Expansion Capability• Reliability of Power• Reliability of TSE• Zoning of sea water intake/discharge zone

CASE STUDY

• LAND OF GROSS AREA 200,000 m2• BUILT‐UP AREA OF 100,000 m2 (FAR=0.50)

• RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT• DOWE INVEST IN DCP or NOT…

COMPARISON ‐ TECHNICAL 

AIR COOLED SPLIT AC 200,000 100,000 15 6,667 33,333 1.80 12,000 12

AIR COOLED VRF AC 200,000 100,000 20 5,000 25,000 1.50 7,500 15

AIR COOLED CHILLERS 200,000 100,000 25 4,000 20,000 1.70 6,800 20

WATER COOLED CHILLERS 200,000 100,000 25 4,000 20,000 1.20 4,800 25

DISTRICT COOLING 200,000 100,000 30 3,333 16,667 1.00 3,333 30

(KW)

Type

(TR/km2) (KW)

Gross Leasable

BUA (NLA)

Installed Cooling

Cap.

PlantLife

Cooling Density

(m2) (TR) (Years)

GrossLand Area

(m2)

Cooling Rate

(m2/TR)

Elect. Powerper TR

Elect. Load

COMPARISON ‐ CAPACITY

COMPARISON ‐ CAPEX

AIR COOLED SPLIT AC 6,667 12,000 23,333,333 24,000,000 47,333,333

AIR COOLED VRF AC 5,000 7,500 37,500,000 15,000,000 52,500,000

AIR COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 6,800 40,000,000 13,600,000 53,600,000

WATER COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 4,800 50,000,000 9,600,000 59,600,000

DISTRICT COOLING 3,333 3,333 50,000,000 6,666,667 56,666,667

(KW)

Type

First CAPEXElect.

(QAR)

First CAPEX (AC + Elect.)

(QAR)(QAR)

Installed Cooling

Cap.

(TR)

Elect. Load

First CAPEXAC

COMPARISON – CAPEX (AC)

COMPARISON – CAPEX (ELECT POWER)

COMPARISON – CAPEX (ELECT POWER)

COMPARISON ‐ OPEX

AIR COOLED SPLIT AC 6,667 8% 1,866,667 1.80 NA 0.14 NA 0.25 - 0.25 3,500 5,880,000 7,746,667

AIR COOLED VRF AC 5,000 5% 1,875,000 1.50 NA 0.14 NA 0.21 - 0.21 3,500 3,675,000 5,550,000

AIR COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 3% 1,200,000 1.70 NA 0.14 NA 0.24 - 0.24 3,500 3,332,000 4,532,000

WATER COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 4% 2,000,000 1.20 0.0121 0.14 1.000 0.17 0.01 0.18 3,500 2,521,400 4,521,400

DISTRICT COOLING 3,333 2% 1,000,000 1.00 0.0121 0.14 1.000 0.14 0.01 0.15 3,500 1,774,500 2,774,500

Type

Maintenance Cost PA

(% of CAPEX)

Maint. Cost PA

(QAR) (QAR)(hours) (QAR)(QAR / TR.HR)

(QAR/KWH) (QAR/CUM)(QAR / TR.HR)

(QAR / TR.HR)

(KW) (CUM)

Installed Cooling

Cap.

(TR)

OPEX PAElect.

Consum.per TR

WaterConsum.

per TR

Utility Tariffs Cooling Energy Tariff Cooling Energy Cost

PAElect. Water Elect. Water Total

Full Load Hours PA

COMPARISON ‐ OPEX

CASE STUDY ‐ NPV

• Interest Rate = 4.00%• Inflation = 0.50%

AIR COOLED SPLIT AC 200,000 100,000 6,667 33,333 12,000 12 47,333,333 7,746,667 172,214,026.48

AIR COOLED VRF AC 200,000 100,000 5,000 25,000 7,500 15 52,500,000 5,550,000 174,311,517.67

AIR COOLED CHILLERS 200,000 100,000 4,000 20,000 6,800 20 53,600,000 4,532,000 136,719,297.95

WATER COOLED CHILLERS 200,000 100,000 4,000 20,000 4,800 25 59,600,000 4,521,400 157,553,606.33

DISTRICT COOLING 200,000 100,000 3,333 16,667 3,333 30 56,666,667 2,774,500 107,552,476.94

Type

First CAPEX (AC + Elect.)

(QAR)(TR/km2)

Gross Leasable

BUA (NLA)

Installed Cooling

Cap.

PlantLife

Cooling Density

(m2) (TR)

30-year NPV

(QAR)(QAR)(Years)

GrossLand Area

(m2)

Installed Elect. Load

(KW)

OPEX PA

CASE STUDY ‐ NPV

COMPARISON ‐MONTHLY COOLING ENERGY BILL

AIR COOLED SPLIT AC 6,667 7,746,667 6.46 3.93 10.38

AIR COOLED VRF AC 5,000 5,550,000 4.63 3.96 8.58

AIR COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 4,532,000 3.78 3.72 7.50

WATER COOLED CHILLERS 4,000 4,521,400 3.77 4.47 8.24

DISTRICT COOLING 3,333 2,774,500 2.31 3.15 5.46

Type

Capacity charge (CAPEX recovery over 30 years)

(QAR/m2. PM)(QAR/m2)

Total

(QAR/m2)

Monthly cooling energy charge

(QAR)

Installed Cooling

Cap.

(TR)

OPEX PA

COMPARISON ‐ COOLING ENERGY CONSUMPTION CHARGE

COMPARISON ‐ COOLING CAPACITY CHARGE

COMPARISON ‐ COOLING CAPACITY CHARGE

INFERENCES• DCS is economically viable for a large development, but…• CAPEX MUST be optimized; limit CAPEX below QAR 20K per TR,

preferably QAR 15K per TR• TSE should be available consistently• If Sea Water, MOE permission to be secured in advance• If DCS provider is contracted, fix END‐USER charges in advance• If investment is directly by the owner, monitor and control DC

operator services

Advanced Thoughts ‐ Cogeneration• Countries geographically 

situated in northern hemisphere employs co‐generation to meet urban utility needs.

• Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Plant

GOLDEN RULES…

MISSION ‐MAKE DCS CONSUMER FRIENDLY…

VISION ‐ CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS SAVING & SUSTAINING OUR PLANET…