CHENNAI: Rising power consumption during summer and sudden rise in temperature are forcing the state to look at alternative solutions like district cooling, a centralised source that could provide cooling to entire buildings through pipelines. The State Planning Commission is preparing a feasibility report on the district cooling system in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme.
According to sources, a road map for district cooling solutions is being prepared along with the Industries Department and the Department of Environment and Energy. This could mean flats and homes in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, which have electricity meters and water meters, could soon have cooling meters where in tariff will have a fixed demand charge.
The working principle of a district cooling system is a centralised chilling plant that produces chilled water. The water is transferred to various buildings or facilities through an underground network of insulated pipes. A control system regulates the temperature of the water produced by the chilling plant and monitors the flow rate of the water through the distribution network.
“By adopting a district cooling system, multiple buildings can share the cost of a centralised plant, resulting in significant energy savings,” said Sudheer Perla, country head, of Tabreed India, on the integration of district cooling in Chennai’s climate action plan. Tabreed has been a partner with UNEP for the last eight years in India and is vying to partner with the state in offering district cooling services.
“Initial investment is high, which includes an underground pipeline network similar to city gas distribution. The focus currently is to use the technology for industrial parks, which Sipcot is setting up,” Perla said.
Though the penetration of air conditioners in India is around 9%, it is expected to grow to 30% in next 10 years. Currently, Chennai consumes almost 13,000 GW of electricity per hour, which is 14% of the total power generated and purchased by Tangedco.