Ibrahim Mohammed A Al Sada, Manager of District Services Department at Kahramaa, speaking to The Peninsula. Salim Matramkot/ The Peninsula
Qatar has emerged as the leading country in district cooling regulation and production in the Gulf region, with current capacity of one million tonnes of refrigeration (TR) which represents 17 percent of total air conditioning demand in local market.
“Most of 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums are cooled using district cooling system. We are coordinating with Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) to install best cooling system design to all stadiums, the venues of the giant sport event,” Ibrahim Mohammed A Al Sada, Manager of District Services Department at Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), told The Peninsula in an exclusive interview.
He said that the energy efficient district cooling system will help to reduce the temperature inside stadium to comfort level enabling players and spectators to play and enjoy the match.
“Currently 39 district cooling plants are operational in Qatar with a capacity of one million tonnes of refrigeration (TR) which includes West Bay Qatar Cool Plant with a capacity of (107,000 TR), Lusail City Marafeq (33,000 TR), Qatar Foundation Central Plants (142,000 TR) and many other private cooling plants,” said Al Sada.
He said that apart from 39 operational plants, 28 new DC plants are under construction which will start providing cooling services soon.
“The air conditioning accounts for around 60 percent to 70 percent of the Qatar’s total electricity demand and district cooling only consumes up to 40 percent less energy than conventional cooling system, making huge saving.”
He said that the growing use of district cooling system boosts Qatar’s commitment to reduce its carbon emissions.
“District cooling is a solution that can bring economic, environmental and societal benefits to the state of Qatar if regulated in the right manner,” said Al Sada. Looking forward, he said that this cooling capacity has large potential for growth as in 2030, the DC capacity in Qatar will reach 1.6 million tonnes of refrigeration representing 19 percent of the total cooling capacity of the country.
“Based on conservative estimates, through 2030, the district cooling can secure an estimated average of QR1bn of savings on yearly basis to the government. The savings are mainly achieved through reduced power plant capacity, electricity distribution network capacity and gas consumption for generation.”
“From 2013 to 2019 by the utilisation of district cooling, Qatar achieved 125 MW saving in generation capacity and 827 MW saving in Electricity distribution capacity.” He said that the reduced fuel consumption helped save 8,238 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent emission reduction.
“CO2 emission reduction due to district cooling use in last year was 1,700 Mtons of CO2. The yearly financial savings due to DC is approximately QR1bn. Major DC service providers in Qatar are Qatar Cool operating in West Bay and Pearl Qatar area and Marafeq serving in Lusail City and Barwa City.”
“District Cooling (DC) consists of a central cooling plant that supplies chilled water to more than one building through a water piping network. DC offers numerous benefits to different stakeholders over conventional cooling solutions, which are: Air Cooled systems (AC) and Water Cooled systems (WC).”
He said that the main benefits of DC include highly electricity efficiency (kW/TR) performance, 30 to 40 percent less power demand compared to conventional cooling technologies.
He said that the DC also helps reduce CO¬2emissions and ambient noise increasing the value of buildings. “As much as 20 DC plants are currently using recycled water called Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) for cooling plant operation. Due to recycled water use 8.2 Million m3 of potable water saved in last year.”
“The district cooling in Qatar facing a lot of challenges; the major one is the scarcity of water source for cooling plant. Potable water is energy intensive and as per ministerial directive alternative water source shall be used.”
He said that the available source is TSE water which is provided by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), but due to lack of TSE network availability at all the places causes a big challenge.
“The waste water from cooling plant should be disposed properly. The unavailability of suitable cooling plant discharge network for waste disposal is another major threat. District cooling department is coordinating with all stakeholders for possible solution on this,” said Al Sada.
He said that DC systems are not economically viable to implement in low cooling density areas.
