District Cooling in Southern Europe: ENGIE Refrigeration supplies a major city with energy-efficient district cooling

Urban cooling networks ensure a sustainable energy supply for modern cities. In a major city in Southern Europe, ENGIE Refrigeration is demonstrating the capabilities of modern district cooling systems: six QUANTUM Power chillers from the Lindau-based cooling and heating specialist supply a city district comprising around 130 buildings via a network with a total length of more than 20 kilometres. Jochen Hornung, Managing Director of
ENGIE Refrigeration, explains: “District cooling is a key driver of the urban energy transition. In our current project in a major city in southern Europe, we at ENGIE Refrigeration are combining high full- and partial load EER values with a high level of operational reliability, thereby providing a blueprint for urban decarbonisation.”

Successful project with a total capacity of 21.5 megawatts

The current large-scale project by ENGIE Refrigeration in Southern Europe is impressive in its scope: the six water-cooled QUANTUM Power chillers provide a combined cooling capacity of 21.5 megawatts. The units were installed on-site in two expansion phases, precisely aligned with growing demand. From the central energy plant, chilled water is now distributed via insulated pipe networks to consumers throughout the city, including office buildings, hotels, public facilities, and mixed-use developments. A key technical feature of the solution is its heat rejection system. Instead of conventional cooling towers, ENGIE Refrigeration utilizes a seawater system for the condensers of the chillers. The Mediterranean Sea provides stable and comparatively low water temperatures, enabling the centrifugal compressors to operate at low pressure ratios and achieve high efficiency under both part-load and full-load conditions. Copper-nickel tubing ensures the necessary corrosion resistance in the demanding seawater environment. In addition, eliminating cooling towers reduces space requirements, noise emissions, and water consumption. Furthermore, the stepless capacity control in part-load operation ensures stable operating conditions at every load point..

Holistic Portfolio for District Cooling and Heating Networks

Beyond this district cooling project, ENGIE Refrigeration offers a specialized portfolio of high-performance chillers and industrial heat pumps for district cooling and district heating applications. The range extends from the SPECTRUM Water heat pump and the thermeco₂ high-temperature heat pump to the QUANTUM Power chiller. The expert team has successfully implemented corresponding applications in numerous European metropolitan areas.

“Cities around the world face the challenge of establishing energy-efficient cooling and heating infrastructure,” emphasizes Jochen Hornung. “With our district cooling and district heating portfolio, we support our customers on their journey toward the future efficiently, safely, and reliably, ensuring dependable operation every step of the way.”