Lusail Real Estate Development Company (LREDC) and Marafeq Qatar celebrated yesterday the inauguration of Phase 1 of district cooling plants in the Marina District, Lusail City.Officials from LREDC, Marafeq, Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (Qatari Diar), and Bin Darwish attended the celebration ceremony.Marafeq Qatar, a subsidiary of Qatari Diar, designed, managed, and supervised the project while Bin Darwish carried out the construction, technical testing and commissioning of the plants.The UAE-based Bin Darwish specialises in building and construction of district cooling plants and electromechanical works related to infrastructure development.Marina District, which was recently handed over to Lusail City investors for plot development after completion of infrastructure works, is spread over 1.8mn sq m.The three plants, with a total capacity of 3,000 TOR (tonnes of refrigeration, also abbreviated RT), have been established as part of the first phase of a larger district cooling plan and will serve a group of towers built in the Marina District.They will rely on a dedicated network that is thermally-insulated to reach the towers via utility tunnels and heat exchangers.“Marina District features innovative design concepts and has been designed to become the pulsating heart of Lusail City. As developers of this one-of-a-kind city, we want to ensure that the stunning array of waterfront residential, mixed-use, commercial, hotel spaces and exciting waterfront promenades at Marina District are served by world-class amenities and infrastructure,” said LREDC chief executive Essa Mohammed Ali Kaldari.“Launching the first phase of these cooling plants is a large step towards establishing a sustainable city that meets the highest international standards of green building,” said Ali Kaldari.“We continue to take consistent strides in this journey by working to complete several phases according to a quality system that is the finest in the world, and that meets the aspirations of Lusail City residents.”Marafeq Qatar, established in 2009 to provide sustainable, effective and innovative solutions for owners and project developers, specialises in providing integrated utilities services from district cooling services to gas distribution and environmental services for waste management.“These cooling plants are the first fruits of Marafeq Qatar’s efforts in Lusail City, and with them the cooling infrastructure of Lusail Marina’s first group of towers is completed, on schedule, and ready to be connected and begin functioning according to the Lusail development plan,” said Marafeq Qatar chief executive Ahmed AbdelKader Mohammed al-Imari.“I am pleased to say that our work with Lusail City doesn’t stop here – we continue to play an important role in laying the infrastructure for gas piping as well as a waste recycling system,” he added. Lusail City, spread over 38sq km, is Qatar’s largest real estate development to date. It is master-planned to accommodate 200,000 residents, 170,000 workers and 80,000 daily visitors.