District cooling services provider Bahrain Tabreed’s first project is scheduled to start-up operations on 30 September.

The project has a capacity of 22,800 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) with the project’s units located around 12 metres underground. The project is to come online in a single start-up.

The facility will provide district cooling to landmark buildings including Bahrain World Trade Centre, Bahrain Financial Harbour and Reef Island.

Speaking to MEED at the Middle East District Cooling 2010 conference in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain Tabreed’s chief executive officer Bernt Andersson said that other developments such as the Seef project could also have district cooling facilities.

However, Andersson stated that the current capacity of the new district cooling plant is sufficient to supply existing developments until 2013. “Should we run out of capacity by the end of 2012, we may use modular chillers [in the short term] and re-assess our plans…[but I don’t expect to see any] new district cooling plants [in Bahrain] before 2015 – and maybe even longer.”