Energetica India Magazine - September 2022

to-end cooling solutions through an outsourced utility model for real estate developments, new urban masterplans, and ongoing redevelopments. In order to address sustainability con- cerns through movements towards clean refrigerants, modular designs, digitali- zation to optimize consumption, pre- ventive maintenance procedures, etc., Tabreed has a philosophy of deploy- ing world-class HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment), EMS (Emergency Medical Services), QMS (Quality Man- agement System) standards and O&M (Operations & Maintenance) procedures in its cooling plants. The company has always been at the forefront of adopting high-end innovation in its plants, con- stantly improving operational efficiency while enhancing district cooling plant life and reliability. Tabreed and IFC, through a robust framework, drawing on the deep experience of both organi- zations will be able to support a greener and more sustainable real estate sector. The real estate sector has a significant role to play in developing greener cities resilient to climate change. Hence, the adaptation of district cooling as a utili- ty-based model is the much-needed sus- tainable boost needed by real estate in order to reduce carbon emissions and be more energy-efficient. Q What is Tabreed’s growth plan in India in terms of providing ener- gy-efficient cooling solutions? Sudheer Perla: Space Cooling demand continues to be a significant contribu - tor to India’s rapidly growing energy demand. While unitary air condition- ers account for a majority of the coun- try’s cooling unit stock, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) study in 2019 estimates up to 4.3 million refrigeration tons (RT) of chiller stock worth $1.5 billion due for replacement by 2030. There is also like- ly to be new chiller demand of up to 7 million RT ($2.5 billion) with over 80% of all this being self-financed by real es - energetica INDIA- September_2022 19 INTERVIEW tate developers or asset owners. Beyond financing, current market practices in India are mostly siloed with a variety of service providers across the value chain for design, procurement, project man- agement, commissioning, operations or maintenance of chillers and HVAC as- sets for space cooling. As such, there is significant headroom for a cooling utility or a cooling as a service (CaaS) provider in the market to address the growing demand for space cooling and solve for challenges related to financing and investment, in addition to sustainability and energy efficiency. Since Tabreed takes a long-term service approach by designing, financing, own - ing and operating cooling assets either at a building level or at a much larger scale through district cooling, it can de- liver life cycle costs savings, energy effi - ciency improvements and better cooling service delivery through enhanced op- erations, maintenance and health and safety norms being adopted. In terms of our growth plans, as mentioned ear- lier, we are looking to deploy USD 400 million over next 3-5 years, targeting 100,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) or 50 million square feet of area. Q With Cooling-as-a-service still in an embryonic stage in India, how do you plan on expanding your business in India? Sudheer Perla: Tabreed is currently ap- proaching the Indian market from mul- tiple angles as an asset owner, developer, and operator with more than 24 years of experience. Our value proposition for urban master plans or smart city devel- opments is to optimize cooling demand while avoiding incorrect design or tech- nology selection and duplicative capex and meeting the energy demand for our cooling assets through a variety of en- vironmentally friendly options. In ad- dition, Tabreed is evaluating opportuni- ties in India involving the acquisition of existing HVAC infrastructure in build- ings, followed by investments in retro- fits and energy efficiency optimizations. This will ensure that the asset owner re- ceives up-front liquidity in exchange for a commitment to longer-term cooling services that are more energy-efficient and smoother. This goes beyond the conventional Energy Saving Compa- nies (ESCO) model, promising savings to end-users from the beginning. Since, Tabreed fully finances and recovers in - vestment and operating costs over an extended period, there will be risk-shar- ing with the building or asset owner, balancing low costs with sustainability, dependability, and system resilience. Q With data centres now given urban infrastructure status. How can they become more energy efficient since they consume excess energy? Sudheer Perla: According to a report by McKinsey, data centres contribute 2% of the world’s total electricity consump- tion. The Indian data centre market is anticipated to double by 2023, as India accelerates its digitization initiatives. It is of the utmost importance for India to adopt and utilize greener methods for the operation of these data centres without impeding the sector’s growth in light of rising environmental concerns. Since India is a tropical nation, there is a high likelihood that the overheating caused by the excessive use of energy to operate these centres will exacerbate the climate crisis. Roughly 30-40% of the energy used in data centres is con- sumed by air conditioning systems used to cool IT equipment, cooling costs are, thus, one of the major contributors to the total electricity bill of large data centers. Hence, it is essential to find an innovative solution that safeguards the environment while preserving the rate of digitization and economic expansion. District Cooling is one such ideal solu- tion; its exemplary design is a perfect match for densely populated infrastruc- ture, such as data centres, that require a concentrated cooling facility that is dis-