Information of the project
Under the visionary leadership of Andhra Pradesh State’s Hon. Chief Minister, the state, through Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), signed India’s 1st Public-Private Partnership concession with Tabreed in 2019 to develop a 20,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) District Cooling System for the government complex area within the planned capital city of Amaravati where Tabreed committed to designing the system to deliver 50% electricity demand reduction for cooling prestigious buildings like the High Court, Secretariat amongst others. Basis Amaravati’s master plan, if District Cooling is further incorporated into urban infrastructure planning aspects for all high building density locations, this in turn could attract USD 4 billion in DCS investments whilst reducing installed mechanical cooling loads by 700,000 RT to result in 1.8 GW reduction in power demand and a corresponding reduction of 2.6 million tonnes in carbon emissions.
The APCRDA tasked with developing 217 sq. km. of Amaravati city in 2014, divided it into nine thematic zones including Knowledge, Sport, Media, and Government. The city’s master plan was designed with sustainability in mind, aiming to reduce ambient temperatures by up to 3 degrees celsius through 51% green cover and to lower energy demand by 30% through energy-efficient designs. In 2024, the central government announced a financial support package of USD 1.79 Billion for Amaravati’s development and the APCRDA released the revised master plan for Amaravati Government Complex in June 2024. An area of approximately 1,575 acres in this project will have specific zoning regulations and focus will be on planned and sustainable growth. The state government has finalized an action plan to give green ratings to all buildings in Amaravati, while APCRDA has reiterated that all cooling provisions in Amaravati will be met through District Cooling systems.
In line with this, APCRDA focused initial development efforts on the Amaravati Government Complex (AGC), issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) in May 2018 for the provision of District Cooling services through a 32-year public-private partnership (PPP) concession, targeting a capacity of 20,000 RT. Tabreed was selected as the preferred bidder, and the concession was signed in 2019. Amaravati successfully embraced the benefits of District Cooling in what was to be India’s 1st PPP concession. The concession approach combines financial innovation with environmental sustainability, setting a precedent for other Indian cities to follow, with the contractual structure designed to balance risks between the public and private stakeholders.
Benefits the proposed District Cooling system would deliver for Amaravati Government Complex include:
- 25% reduction in installed cooling capacity enabled from aggregation of demand, reduced redundancy.
- 50% reduction in power demand and associated infra requirements vis-à-vis stand-alone systems.
- 40 million kWH per annum lower power consumption from improved energy efficiency of a DCS system versus stand-alone, conventional cooling systems.
- 22,750 tonnes of annual CO2 emissions reduction.
- Zero refrigerant leakage use of Zero Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP), low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerant.
- 150 million liters annual potable water savings when treated-sewage effluent is made available.
- 20% lower lifecycle cost vis-à-vis stand-alone, conventional cooling systems.
