SAUDI ARABIA – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has won a contract to supply 80 units of its large-scale centrifugal chillers for the district cooling plant of an urban development project in Medina, Saudi Arabia. The 80 units will be used to provide a combined 200,000 refrigeration tons of cooling capacity for the district cooling plant which will supply chilled water to a 1.6million square metre area, in an order which MHI’s largest order of its kind to date. MHI’s centrifugal chillers are scheduled to be delivered from autumn 2015.
MHI has been asked to supply 80 AART-270I variable speed drive (VSD) chiller units, which the company claim achieve high-efficiency operation by optimally responding to the required cooling load and ambient temperature. This efficient operation is made possible by the VSD chiller delivering meticulous compressor speed control and related operations, and the company claim that these distinctive mechanical features are especially effective for significant energy-saving under low ambient conditions at night-time. To further reduce the energy consumption of the system, two chillers will be connected and controlled in tandem which MHI hope can provide 5,000 refrigeration tons cooling capacity.

The chillers will be supplied through Zamil Central Air Conditioners Co. Ltd., a constituent of Zamil Air Conditioner Co., the largest supplier of air conditioners in Saudi Arabia and which was founded in 1974 as an affiliate company of the Zamil Group, a major Saudi Arabian corporate conglomerate engaged in a wide range of business, including the manufacture and marketing of air conditioning systems. Zamil Central Air Conditioners was established by Zamil Air Conditioners in 2009 as a separate entity which is dedicated to the commercial and industrial use of air conditioning systems, and has been treating MHI chillers since 2011.

The city of Medina is located inland from the Red Sea coast and receives 10 million visitors a year. The city hopes that the MHI centrifugal chillers will help to provide a more comfortable air conditioning environment to the large spaces where the vast majority of visitors gather.

MHI is the largest centrifugal chiller manufacturer in Japan, and a large number of its chillers, totalling 3000 units, have been supplied for district cooling, industrial plant, and other application for use in Japan and other countries. Subsequent to this latest large order from Saudi Arabia, MHI hopes to further promote its solution in the Middle East.