Qatar Rail has signed a contract with Qatar Cool to provide district cooling services at seven of the Doha Metro Red Line stations.
A signing ceremony took place at Qatar Rail’s headquarters recently in the presence of Saad Ahmed al-Muhannadi, Qatar Rail CEO and Yasser Salah al-Jaidah, Qatar Cool CEO.
Aiming to support the environment and save electricity and cost, Qatar Rail has chosen to partner with Qatar Cool to provide district cooling at the Pearl and West Bay stations (Legtaifiya, Katara, Al Qassar, Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre, West Bay, Corniche and Al Bidda stations), and proactively contributing to cooling measures during the summer months starting 2019, the projected operation date of the Doha Metro project (Phase 1).
Qatar Rail oversees the construction of Qatar’s integrated railway network.
Through district cooling, chilled water is delivered via underground isolated pipelines to commercial, hotel and residential buildings to cool the buildings water via an Energy Transfer Station (ETS), which is situated in the basement of each building within a district. The ETS in each building then uses the buildings water to lower the temperature of air passing through the building’s air conditioning system, known as Fan Coil Units (FCU) or Air Handling Units (AHU).
Cooling systems will operate throughout the other stations and on the trains themselves to ensure that customers enjoy the height of comfort when using the network.
On the co-operation deal, al-Muhannadi, said: “Qatar Rail has always sought to work with the best local suppliers and partners on every aspect of each of its projects to achieve the implementation of a sustainable railway network. We have the pleasure to cooperate with Qatar Cool to provide some seven stations on the project with a district cooling system that won’t only withstand the hot weather during summer peak times in Doha, but also contribute to protecting the environment by increasing energy efficiency and reducing environmental emissions, saving electricity, and evidently benefiting from a much more cost-efficient cooling service with an economic interest on the longer term”.
Al-Jaidah said, “We take great pride in being part of Qatar Rail’s story.  The benefits that the Qatar Rail system will bring to our country by providing an environmentally friendly, safe, fast and very efficient means of transportation are clear and necessary for our growing population. District cooling’s advantages are increasingly being recognised by governments, developers and end-users alike.  It is an honour to say Qatar Cool is playing a fundamental role in Qatar’s sustainable and environmental fortification. We are committed to supporting Qatar and Qatar Rail throughout their journey.”