The Towers Rotana Hotel building owner on Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai, UAE, is among the latest projects to call upon the services of district cooling specialist Tabreed (the National Central Cooling Company).

Tabreed is building a district cooling plant, on Shaikh Zayed Road to supply hotels and residential buildings in the area with cooling once it is completed in March 2002.

The plant will offer particular benefits for hotel guests including the flexibility to increase or decrease cooling requirements and the elimination of noise and vibration associated with additional chillers, according to a spokesman for Tabreed.

It will also provide owners of the properties with additional space for rooms, and the facility to pay for what is used only, he says.

Ahmed Saeed Al Badi, property owner of the Tower Rotana Hotel building, says: "Tabreed's district cooling offers many benefits for the building. Local control of temperature allows us to offer consistent comfort as well as a healthier atmosphere in terms of air quality and noise pollution at a competitive cost to our guests and tenants. We are also pleased to be helping the environment as district chilling makes more efficient use of energy resources."

The district cooling plant, which will have the capacity to serve 32 buildings on the Shaikh Zayed Road, will cover 1,500 sq m and will provide 21,000 refrigerating tons of cooling. Valued at Dh105 million ($28.6 million), Tabreed's plant is planned in four phases with Phase 2, 3 and 4 to be completed on demand.

"District cooling is the future of 'cooling' in the UAE," adds Al Badi. "We are pleased to be among the first property owners to be aware of the values and benefits it offers, to both the tenants, property owners and managers. We expect a large number of building owners to follow suit in the near future."

Tabreed is also involved in the provision of district cooling to various projects in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

Last October, the firm started construction work on two new district cooling plants worth $40 million at Zayed Military City in Suweihan, Abu Dhabi.

The second phase of the Zayed Military City project involves the construction of two new plants, which will produce 20,000 refrigerating tons per day to a total area of 12 sq km. The project is expected to be completed at the end of this year. Together with the $13 million plant built in the first phase and which started operations in 1999, Zayed Military City project will have district cooling of a total capacity of 24,000 refrigerating tons per day, or a capacity to cool 8,000 residential houses.

"Zayed Military City has realised the benefits of district cooling early on when it commissioned work on the first phase of the project in 1995," says Dany Safi, managing director of Tabreed.

The two new plants will offer a reduction of 40 per cent in energy consumption and cost, as well as better cost efficiency in maintenance and service, compared to conventional cooling methods, he says. Also, the use of natural gas supplied by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to power the plants will ensure that no carbon dioxide emission will result from air-conditioning the Zayed Military City.

Tabreed will be operating and maintaining the Zayed Military City district cooling plant, in accordance to the 20-year agreement. The company adheres to the highest quality control procedures, maintaining its plants according to international standards for district cooling, Safi adds.

For the construction of the second phase, Tabreed will be working in partnership with SNC-Lavalin, a leading Canadian engineering-construction firm with offices in some 30 countries, including Abu Dhabi, and projects under way in approximately 100 countries. SNC-Lavalin is said to have proven experience in district cooling systems, having implemented such systems in universities and institutions.

"District cooling has seen considerable growth worldwide, with business and real estate developers boosting demand for this type of climate conditioning," says Sami Bebawi, executive vice-president of SNC-Lavalin. "There is a huge potential for district cooling in this region as it is the most economical and convenient solution for building owners and managers. We are pleased to be working with Tabreed, a pioneer in the industry in the Gulf region."

The first phase of the Zayed Military City was officially opened in November 1999 with an initial refrigerating capacity of 4,000 tons. This will be expanded considerably within a period of five years when the output will be increased to 75,000 tons of refrigeration per day.

Tabreed is also currently working on projects in Al Ain, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, that will produce a refrigerating capacity of 75,000 to 100,000 tons per day when completed.

These projects include the Al Jimi Shopping Centre in Al Ain and Al Manar Mall in Ras Al Khaimah, which boasts the UAE's first commercial district cooling system. Tabreed's $5 million district cooling plant installed last year provides a total capacity of 2,350 refrigerating tons per hour through a network of pipes running to the mall.

Tabreed has worked closely with the Sharjah Government and studied the potential for district cooling in the Sharjah Lagoon area. The preliminary study anticipated a capacity of 30,000 tons of refrigeration when the area is fully developed. Tabreed was assigned a land in that area and construction of a district cooling station is expected to start soon. This scheme will serve the new Sharjah Expo and the upcoming Sharjah Trade and Conference Centre along with other developments.

Established in 1998 through the efforts of the UAE Offsets Group, Tabreed says it is the first district cooling service provider in the Middle East region, providing customers with the highest quality service by offering an integrated energy system devised to help them optimise their energy usage and reduce power costs.

Tabreed is a member of the International District Energy Association (IDEA), Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), American Gas Cooling Center, Inc. (AGCC) and Dubai Quality Group.