District cooling in the Middle East & North Africa; history, current status, and future opportunities

Abstract

Air conditioners are responsible for substantial portion of electricity consumption all around the world. It is anticipated to require more cooling load in near future due to the global warming, population increment and increased tendency toward better life quality. In this regard, it is crucial to make use and develop more efficient systems for cooling particularly in hot and arid regions. District Cooling (DC) systems have significantly higher efficiency and lower energy consumption in comparison with the traditional cooling technologies. Owing to hot climate in the majority of the Middle East& North Africa (MENA) region, utilization of DC systems would be incredibly attractive option. In this article, status of DC systems in the countries of the MENA regions is represented and discussed and the planned future projects are represented. Furthermore, challenges and opportunities related to the development of these systems are provided. In order to get the required information, different sources such as the data provided by the companies and institutes working on the development of cooling technologies and responsible of it in this region in addition to the publications on the relevant subjects are used. Although there are some huge projects under construction and planning or operation in some of the countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, there is not any plan for development of these systems in some other countries such as Iraq. Furthermore, opportunities and challenges related to the development of these systems in the MENA region are provided. The findings of the present work would be beneficial for the policymakers and scholars working on the relevant subjects.