FDC partners with ENGIE for cooling district facility
Gotianun-owned Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) has partnered with global energy leader ENGIE in a 60-40 joint venture for a R1.5billion investment to provide energy-efficient district cooling facility for the Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City, Alabang even as the partners looked into other projects and investments in the country that also include production of renewable energy.
Pierre Cheyron, Chief Executive Officer, ENGIE Services Asia Pacific, said in an interview at the inauguration of the country’s first district cooling plant that R1.2 billion have already been invested by the partners for the facility that will provide efficient cooling services for the current 9 buildings in the Northgate Cyberzone. Additional investments will be poured in when all 15 buildings are put on stream to reach the targeted investments of R1.5 billion.
The Northgate project consists of a centralized chilled water plant supplying power to 15 buildings, totalling 420,000 sqm, over the next 20 years. Employing energy efficient solutions, the water is then funnelled back to the plant in a closed circuit. The system runs on its own electricity, enabling savings in electricity bills and is more environmentally friendly compared to conventional cooling systems.
The use of its energy efficient cooling solutions has already started to result in substantial 35-40 percent power cost savings among buildings in the Northgate.
According to Cheyron, the district cooling facility in Filinvest City is the first in Asia after Singapore and Malaysia. It has also similar projects in New Zealand.
Cheyron said that they are also planning to provide efficient district cooling services to other FDC projects such the cyberzone in Cebu and the Clark City, where FDC’s subsidiary Filinvest Land, Inc. is a partner of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
It is also looking at other projects outside of FDC also in partnership with this Filipino conglomerate, which Cheyron said also aims to become the leader in the employment of efficient district cooling initiatives in the country.
Aside from energy efficient solutions, Cheyron said they are looking into power generation of renewable energy, particularly solar power, in the Philippines and is aligned with the ambitions of Engie.