"Empower": It is less expensive for consumers and real estate owners because it relies on huge units that serve several buildings, not individual units.
District cooling reduces energy demand by 50% compared to conventional systems
The life cycle of a district cooling plant is up to 40 years compared to traditional plants that are up to 15 years old.
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Ahmed bin Shafar: "The district cooling system is distinguished by its ability to serve thousands of customers in several areas served by one cooling station."
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The CEO of the Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), Ahmed bin Shafar, said that the district cooling system reduces the demand for electrical energy by about 50%, compared to traditional air conditioning systems.
He explained to "Emirates Today" that this, in turn, reduces the bill of consumers and real estate owners, in addition to the positive effects on the economy, indicating that what makes the district cooling system less expensive and more economical in energy and water consumption lies in the fact that its work is based on huge cooling units that serve a number of Buildings, not individual units, as is the case in conventional air conditioning.
He added that the most prominent difference between the traditional systems and the district cooling system is that the latter depends on the production and distribution of chilled water in a central station, and pumping it to customers in several buildings, and it also allows the reuse of wastewater, and thus is more sustainable.
Many benefits
In detail, the CEO of the Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), Ahmed bin Shafar, said that district cooling offers many benefits, including customers, economy, environment and sustainability, the most prominent of which is that it reduces the demand for electrical energy by about 50% compared to traditional systems, thus reducing consumers' bill. And real estate owners, in addition to the positive effects on the city’s macro economy in this regard.
He added to "Emirates Today" that the district cooling system is characterized by its ability to serve thousands of customers in several areas served by a single cooling station, which is completely incapable of conventional air conditioning systems in buildings on their own, and the life cycle of the district cooling plant reaches 30 and 40 years, Compared to conventional air conditioning systems, which have a maximum life cycle of 15 years.
Provide
Bin Shafar indicated that buildings connected to district cooling services usually cost much less than those required by traditional individual refrigeration units, and thus the building owner can save on the initial capital and use it for other purposes, in addition to saving the space used, in addition to Smart district cooling does not depend only on innovative environmentally friendly technologies, but within the system of urban planning and integrated design, and using technology to establish the concept of sustainable cities, environmentally friendly cities or smart cities.
District cooling system
Bin Shafar stated that the definition of a district cooling system can be explained simply, that “it is the production and distribution of chilled water in a central station, and pumping it to dealers in several buildings, through an insulated underground network of pipes, to allow the cooled air-conditioning systems, then the water returns from that The buildings have become warm to the central station for recycling, cooling and pumping into the network again. ”
He indicated that the dealers and residents may not be aware of the existence of this system, and their lack of knowledge about it, due to the way it works that is not visible to the eye, as the cooling stations do not reveal to anyone who sees it from the outside how they work, and the network of pipes that transport the cooled water to the buildings is usually below the surface Thus, people do not even feel it is there.
Huge cooling units
Bin Shafar explained that what makes the district cooling system less expensive and more economical in energy and water consumption, compared to traditional air conditioning systems, is that the district cooling system works on huge cooling units that serve several buildings, not individual units, as is the case in traditional air conditioning. Consequently, this greatly reduces the rates of consumption of natural resources (fresh water), reduces energy consumption, and thus effectively contributes to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, in addition to reducing costs for dealers and governments, which in turn have come to deal with district cooling as a factor. Active in promoting sustainable economy and modern urban development, especially if it is adopted in complexes with high population density, and in locations that require massive cooling services, such as airports, universities, institutions, commercial centers, residential towers, and others.
environment protection
Bin Shafar said that the district cooling system preserves the protection of the environment, because the lower the energy consumption rate, the lower the carbon dioxide emissions, as every kilowatt hour consumed by a power plant generates 0.52 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
He added that «the central station uses environmentally friendly coolers, and the occurrence of any accidental leakage from one central station is of course much less than if it occurred to a number of stations distributed here and there», indicating that the cooling devices consume about 70% of the total energy consumed inside the buildings, It accounts for 70% of the energy demand at peak times.
Bin Shafar added: “If we divert the current from individual homes to the central station, the electric current will decrease dramatically, and with it the number of electrical substations and the length and size of cables will decrease, because the district cooling system’s need for electric power is much less than the need for multiple stations and individual units. , And the central station is able to house the electrical transformer, which greatly reduces the loads on the electrical grid, as well as that high energy demand and peak times can be dealt with very easily through modern technologies in the generation of direct current, to ensure the efficiency of energy use on demand. .
Savings
The Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) stated that it has succeeded in achieving huge savings in fresh water, due to its practices in protecting the environment by using treated wastewater in its operations instead of fresh water, in implementation of the decision not to use fresh water, and to use other water alternatives. , With the aim of preserving the country's water resources.
The CEO of the Corporation, Ahmed bin Shafar, explained that Empower was able to record more than 349 million gallons of water savings of fresh water until 2020. As for electrical energy savings, they reached more than 1,312 megawatts of electricity, while the value reached The total provision of the Corporation of electric energy is 3.4 billion dirhams until the end of last year.
• “District cooling” depends on the production and distribution of water in a central plant and pumping it to those dealing with the reuse of wastewater.
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