Information of the project
Plaksha University has partnered with Tabreed in India to both provide cooling services to its campus, as well as to test various energy storing technologies. Through a Cooling as a Service (CaaS) contract, Tabreed in India will take charge of Plaksha University’s existing cooling systems to enhance energy efficiency. The partnership further extends to develop a living laboratory at the university’s campus in Mohali, Punjab (India) to test energy storage technologies and their integration with smart microgrids.
A significant challenge in achieving India’s decarbonisation goals is the energy consumption in residential cooling. This pilot project will test the integration of innovative PCM-based thermal energy storage solution to meet the night time cooling demand of a hostel building with the aim to decarbonise residential cooling energy consumption and minimise grid reliance. Through this partnership Plaksha University will also experiment with consumption-based billing and metering strategy to foster behavioural change among users in the hostel. This setup will address the dual problem of variability in renewable power generation and incremental night-time cooling demand. It will also minimise the need for conventional, more expensive, and less environment-friendly battery storage systems, thus bringing us one step closer to a sustainable vision for grid-independent buildings, campuses or even townships.
The collaboration is part of the broader partnership between Tabreed in India and IFC’s award-winning TechEmerge Program, through Cooling Innovation Lab (CIL), that aims to accelerate market adoption of innovative cooling technologies through the implementation of grant-funded pilots and innovative business models.
