The Board of Directors of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center
Based on the powers granted to it by law in accordance with the Center’s Statute issued by Council of Ministers Decision No. 353 dated 1439/7/3 AH, and after review and deliberation, the Board has decided the following:
Decision No. 04-04-2025: Approval of the Executive Committee’s recommendation to adopt the update of the National District Cooling Standard according to the attached document.
Saudi Energy Efficiency Center
Update of the conditions and standards for the use of government entities when using their projects for district cooling technology
After reviewing Council of Ministers Decision No. (3) dated 1438/1/2 AH, which stipulates the following:
- First: Government entities - when designing their projects - must use district cooling technology if the conditions and standards stated in the decision apply.
- Second: The Saudi Energy Efficiency Center - in coordination with the Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority - shall review the conditions and standards mentioned in item (First) above and update them if necessary.
Based on what the interest of work requires, it is decided as follows:
First: Update the conditions and standards for the use of government entities - when designing their projects - for district cooling technology to be as follows:
- A- The project must be new.
- B- The cooling demand must exceed (15,000) tons of refrigeration.
- C- The area where the project is established must be of high density (building factor more than (1.5), which is the total built-up area relative to the total land area).
- D- Sufficient quantities of treated water must be available in the area where the project is established, and if this is not possible, according to a statement from the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, water from any other sources may be used after obtaining source licenses and source use licenses from the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, provided that the issuance of regulatory licenses for the use of treated water from the Saudi Water Authority is observed if used.
Second: This decision shall be published in the Official Gazette, shall come into effect from the date of its publication, and shall be communicated to those concerned for implementation and action accordingly.