Thailand authorities must adopt Tri-generation district cooling tech to reduce oil imports urges CEO of DC Pro Engineering

36.1% of Thailand’s electricity peak demand is attributed to air-conditioning requirements

25 August 2015, Bangkok, Thailand: Tri-generation district cooling technology offers a ready-made solution to address Thailand’s spiralling air conditioning requirements, according to George Berbari, CEO of DC Pro Engineering UAE - the leading global authority in District Energy and regional pioneer in sustainable Green Building MEP Designs.

Speaking at this week’s 4th Annual Asia-Pacific District Cooling Conference in Bangkok, Berbari revealed that Tri-generation technology – a process where the simultaneous generation of electric power is synchronised with photo voltaic energy to create waste heat and produce cooling - could result in savings of up to 100,000 barrels per day in Thai oil imports.

During a presentation entitled ‘The Future of District Energy: Tri-generation with Renewables’ Berbari said: “A net importer of petroleum and natural gas, Thailand is now Asia’s third largest biofuel producer after China and Indonesia. With district cooling representing only a one percent market share in Thailand, the further use of Tri-generation district cooling technology can help reduce the country’s primary energy consumption by up to 80 percent. Adopting this technology would cover 30 percent of Thailand’s energy requirement for air-conditioning and result in savings of approximately 100,000 barrels per day of equivalent oil imports.

With 36.1 percent of electricity peak demand in Thailand attributed to air-conditioning, Berbari revealed the country’s current air-conditioning market requirement is 2 million refrigeration tonnes per year – attributable to 1.5 million room air conditioners consuming 1.55 million refrigeration tonnes, 50,000 package air conditioners using 200,000 refrigeration tonnes and another 2,000 water-cooled and air-cooled chillers using 250,000 refrigeration tonnes.

“The current drawback of Tri-generation technology is it still uses fossil fuels,” added Berbari. “This can be resolved by shifting to biofuels or integrating solar and wind energy solutions.  District cooling integrated with renewables offers the world’s most cost-efficient cooling solution and is efficient for heightened energy storage, such as for thermal energy,” Berbari added.

“With current district cooling technologies increasingly outdated, the Thai district cooling industry should engage the government to integrate renewable energy sources to save on primary energy fuels. The use of Tri-generation technology in district cooling systems will result in greater efficiency in natural gas applications, incurring savings of up to 75% per year. By adding renewable biodiesel and solar energy, savings could increase to 85% per year.”

DC PRO Engineering was responsible for the design of the Al Bustan district cooling project in Riyadh – considered as the world’s most efficient tri-generation project. The company also designed the Innovation Park in Oman that has integrated 1 MW of photovoltaic solar energy with a 5.6 MW natural gas engine.

DC Pro Engineering’s  Al Bustan district cooling project recently won two awards for ‘Sustainable Project of the Year’ and ‘Best Consultant’ at the 3rd  Annual Asia Pacific District Cooling Conference 2014 Awards in  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; while - “the Innovation Park – a project developed in collaboration with the Research Council of Oman - saw the UAE-based company claim ‘The Best District Cooling Consultant’ award for the third consecutive year. The Omani project also received a rare ‘Honourable Mention’ acknowledgement in the ‘Sustainable Project of the Year’ category.