Stellar Group LLC, the regional headquarters of Stellar Group USA is installing the district cooling system at Nakheel’s Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) development and has announced that the first phase of the project – said to house the world’s largest chiller modules – is on schedule for completion before the end of summer. Stellar Group, a world leader in the field of district cooling, is executing the project for Palm District Cooling (PDC), a leading district cooling company in the UAE. PDC is owned by Istithmar, the investment arm of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC).
The first phase will include 21,000 tons of refrigeration (TR) out of the 77,000 TR that Stellar is contracted to build. The constructed plants will also have the capacity to be scaled up to 105,000 TR as the 69 towers of the real-estate development are completed. “We chose Stellar Group’s modular chiller design for their scalability, low initial investment and the company’s ability to commission large projects in a short time span while adhering to the highest international quality standards,” said Keith Levers, CEO of PDC. “Stellar has also been awarded the contract to build district cooling plants for the Palm Jumeirah Trunk, another flagship project of ours,” he added.
With the region undergoing a massive construction boom, the need for efficient district cooling solutions that save energy and space (in Stellar’s case, up to 40% less space is required) is set to increase exponentially. PDC, a leading district cooling company in the region, forecasts its refrigeration capacity to reach 1.8 million tons refrigeration by 2010. District cooling plant suppliers such as the Stellar Group, who can come up with innovative design solutions, are set to make massive in-roads in the business.
“These high capacity chiller modules are breakthrough technology for the enormous District Cooling Systems being built by Palm District Cooling and throughout the region.” explained Ivan Norris, General Manager at the Stellar Group’s regional office in Dubai. “This gives our customers a cost effective and flexible solution which can grow as their cooling requirements grow, thereby distributing large capital investments over a period of time.”
The key feature of Stellar Group’s modular chiller design is the company’s trademarked ‘Plug and Chill’ concept, where large capacity district cooling plants are built and chiller units added or ‘plugged in’ as need increases. This allows district cooling utility companies, such as PDC, to save on initial capital investments, which can be quite large in this business. Chiller units are fabricated – in Stellar Group’s case in the US – and shipped to destination, ready to be installed.
Stellar Group also has plans to build fabrication facilities in the UAE in the near future, as need increases.
