SP Group to design district cooling, heating system for Chengdu development

SP Group announced on Tuesday (Jun 18) that it secured a bid to design, build, develop and operate a district cooling and heating system for the new International Sports Park City in Chengdu, China. 

The utilities group is expected to invest more than 200 million yuan (S$37.3 million) in the sustainable energy project under a 19-year service contract. 

The cooling and heating system, which will also be owned by SP Group, will begin its operations in 2025. 

International Sports Park City – an integrated development located in Chengdu’s Wuhou District – will benefit from greater energy efficiency of more than 30 per cent for cooling and more than 50 per cent for heating, SP Group said. 

This represents annual energy savings of 2,900 megawatt hours, and an abatement of 1,700 tonnes in carbon emissions. 

The project, with a cooling capacity of 9,800 refrigeration tonnes, will be SP Group’s largest district cooling system in Chengdu. 

“China’s commercial and industrial boom, coupled with greater sustainability ambitions, has resulted in a higher demand for clean energy and digital solutions that can contribute towards China’s urban transformation and decarbonisation goals,” said Michael Zhong, SP Group China managing director. 

The integrated development, which will span 278,000 square metres, is an addition to the utilities group’s expanding portfolio of district cooling and energy management projects in China. 

It already secured similar projects which include Raffles City Chongqing and Guangzhou Knowledge Tower, as well as “pioneered the concept of a cooling microgrid in China” at Chengdu’s Wuhou International Urban Design Centre, said the company. 

It also won the contract to upgrade the district cooling system in Shudu Center in Q3 2023.

SP Group is the largest district cooling project operator in South-east Asia and currently operates the world’s largest underground district cooling system located in Marina Bay, Singapore.