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Neom prepares to procure district cooling plants

13 February 2024

Neom’s energy, water and hydrogen subsidiary, Enowa, plans to procure up to nine district cooling plants, according to industry sources.

The planned district cooling plants, including three that will have a heating component as well, are to be tendered between the first quarter of this year and early next year.

The district cooling plants will be located across Neom, including in the southern and central areas as well as at the airport.

Sources said Enowa is still considering options to procure the assets, which will be either through public-private partnerships or engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.

The plants have varying operational dates, with the first one expected to come online this year and the last in the second half of 2027.

Oxagon DC project

The prequalification process is under way for a contract to build a district cooling plant at Oxagon, the industrial cluster at Saudi Arabia’s SR1.9tn ($500bn) Neom development, as MEED reported.

The planned district cooling plant in Oxagon will have a capacity of 25,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT).

MEED understands the request for proposals (RFP) for the contract could be issued soon.

It will be built on a 3,000 square-metre land area and contain compression chillers and roof-mounted cooling towers, with a balance of mechanical and electrical items.

The project will be linked to a district cooling network, which will be built separately by other contractors.

According to MEED Projects data, an estimated $10.7bn-worth of utility projects are under construction in Neom. Close to $22bn projects are in the pre-execution phase, excluding the renewable energy projects still in the pre-development stages and for which locations have not yet been identified.

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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