Emirates District Cooling LLC (Emicool) - a district cooling service provider in the region and a joint venture of Dubai Investments PJSC and Union Properties, is planning to increase its plant capacity to 500,000 Tonnes of Refrigeration (TR) by 2020 as rampant construction is leading to pent-up demand for district cooling services across the UAE and region.

The company, based in Dubai Investments Park (DIP), also recorded a 30% increase in peak consumption in the first six months of 2015, with customers using up over 90 million TR per hour during the period. Apart from DIP , Emicool is currently offering district cooling services in strategic locations such as Dubai Motor City, Dubai Sports City, Uptown Mirdiff and Palazzo Versace and D1 Tower at Al Jaddaf.

Emicool , which is providing district cooling to DIP 's businesses and households with operating capacity of 115,000 TR from its plant within DIP , is also eyeing an increase in its capacity for DIP alone to touch 250,000 TR. This is in line with DIP plans to build over 1,150 residential units in the coming years, which includes townhouses, duplex, three, two and single-bedroom apartments.

Currently, water is cooled at the Emicool plant within DIP and then channelled to villa complexes, residential buildings, commercial and industrial sectors in the development replacing individual air conditioning units with blanket coverage.

"The demand within DIP and across the UAE is on the rise amidst burgeoning construction and we are fast augmenting our capacity in line with this. Emicool has proven its capabilities as a leader in the district cooling industry with its efficient services. District cooling is a constantly evolving industry and the centralised system has proven to be far more economical and sustainable than the conventional air conditioning infrastructure," said Adib Moubadder, CEO of Emicool .

District cooling uses 40% to 50% less energy than traditional air conditioning systems, which can account for 70% of a building's electricity bill. Producing one tonne of refrigeration using conventional air conditioning takes 1.7kw of power, while district cooling can consume as little as 0.85?kw per tonne. This frees up considerable amounts of energy to be used elsewhere.

The Emicool district cooling plant in DIP has helped to save electricity by 312.95 million kWh per annum (34 per cent less than conventional air-conditioners), which is the equivalent of reducing 159,028 tonnes of CO2 yearly. Apart from electricity savings, it has also helped to reduce refrigerant leakage in the atmosphere and noise pollution, thus offering a far eco-friendly and economical alternative.

Moubadder added: " Emicool provides continuous chilled water cooling services to over 15,000 customers across Dubai, with the most efficient and highest quality service to support the growth of its infrastructure with sustainable development and innovative technologies. Emicool 's growing portfolio reaffirms the success of its strategic business model."

Emicool 's roadmap in the coming years includes expansion of operations to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.