1) Customers can register by visiting our customer service center at IBN Battuta Mall.
2) Customers may also download the registration form from the customer care section of the Palm Utilities website (www.palmutilities.com). After filling up and signing the registration form, a scanned copy may be sent to registration@palmutilites.ae. Registration charges can be paid through the e-payment facility on our website www.palmutilities.ae. Please attach the proof of payment with the registration form.

1) Proof of ownership

• Title Deed
• Completion
• Certificate
• Sale and Purchase agreement

2) Passport Copy of owner
3) Signed/filled out end-user registration form by the owner

All charges, *rates and *values depend on each individual agreement with the customer.

For Developers

Capacity Charge : 750XContract Tonnage Capacity

Consumption Charge :

Consumption X 0.69* before Building Completion Certificate (BCC)
Consumption X 0.563* after Building Completion Certificate (BCC)

BTU Meter Cost : 80,000AED*

One-Time Connection Fee: 750XContract Tonnage Capacity

BTU meter service charge : AED 500/month

Annual surcharge of AED 900*/ton for any excess of the contracted capacity

Reconnection charge : AED 30,000* (in case of disconnection due to non-payment)

Delayed payment charge : interest of 1%/month

Deposit : AED 250* X contract capacity

For PDC-Bulk End User

Quarterly Capacity : 187.5 X Building Tonnage Capacity

Consumption Charge : 0.563 X per TR-Hr

BTU Meter Cost : AED 80,000* - AED 80,000* (depends on project)

BTU Meter service charge : AED 500/month

Reconnection charge : AED 15,000 * (in case of disconnection due to non-payment)

Deposit : Building Square feet X AED 0.475 (

We are located at IBN Battuta Mall, Egypt Court, Shop# 66A, next to Al Magroodi book shop.

We are open from 10 am to 8 pm Saturdays to Thursdays.

For buildings located in Palm Jumeirah Trunk (PJT), Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) or Palm Jumeirah Crescent (PJC), the first step is to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from our Engineering Department.

The documents required for this are:
1) Developers Application Form
2) No Objection Certificate (NOC) Application along with

a) Site layout plan stating coordinates of all corners
b) Site layout and plans indicating the following:

b1) All built-up areas with buildings named
b2) Energy Transfer Station (ETS)
b3) Building Valve Chamber coordinates
b4) Chilled Water intake pipe coordinates

3) Other Required Drawings
The second step is to sign a Developer Agreement, which requires the following documents:
1) Developer Submittal Package form
2) Building Permits
3) Palm District Cooling (PDC) - No Objection Certificate (NOC)
4) JAFZA permits for the Gross Floor Area (GFA)
5) Last Valve Chamber with the Consultant Stamp
6) Total cooling load calculation by the consultant with the consultant stamp
7) Date of first chilled water connection on a letterhead
8) Metering preferences (Bulk Meter or Sub Meters)
9) Sub Meters Schedule with consultant stamp (in case of Sub Meters)
10) Company’s Trade License
11) Passport copy of the local individual authorized signatory
12) Passport copy and Visa of expat individual of authorized signatory

Note: For Discovery Gardens Customers, we require only the following
1) Copy of building ownership
2) Copy of Handover form Nakheel
3) Company’s Trade License
4) Passport copy of the local individual authorized signatory
5) Passport copy and Visa of expat individual of authorized signatory
6) Register and sign the agreement with Palm District Cooling (PDC)

If the building is in Palm Jumeirah Crescent (PJC), the first Step is to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from our Engineering Department.

Documents required for this are:
1) Developers Application Form
2) No Objection Certificate (NOC) Application along with:

a) Site layout plan stating coordinates of all corners
b) Site layout and plans indicating the following

b1) All built-up areas with buildings named
b2) Pot. Water Break Tank
b3) Irrigation Water Break Tank
b4) Industrial Water Break Tank
b5) Potable water intake pipe coordinates
b6) Irrigation water intake pipe coordinates
b7) Industrial water intake pipe coordinates
b8) Sewage outfall location with pipe dais. Levels and coordinates.
b9) Details of grease traps, location and size etc.

3) Other Required Drawings

The second step is to sign a Developer Agreement
Documents required for this are:
1) Developer Submittal Package form
2) Building Permits
3) Palm District Cooling (PDC) - No Objection Certificate (NOC)
4) JAFZA permits for the Gross Floor Area (GFA)
5) Date of required connections
6) Company’s Trade License
7) Passport copy of the local individual authorized signatory
8) Passport copy and Visa of expat individual of authorized signatory

All charges, *rates and *values depend on each individual agreement with the customer.

For Developers

• Capacity Charge : 750XContract Tonnage Capacity
• Consumption Charge :
  

  Consumption X 0.60* before Building Completion Certificate (BCC)
  Consumption X 0.49* after Building Completion Certificate (BCC)
  

• BTU Meter Cost : 80,000AED*
• One-Time Connection Fee: 750XContract Tonnage Capacity
• BTU meter service charge : AED 400/month
• Annual surcharge of AED 900*/ton for any excess of the contracted capacity
• Reconnection charge : AED 30,000* (in case of disconnection due to non-payment)
• Delayed payment charge : interest of 1%/month
• Deposit : AED 250* X contract capacity

For PDC-Bulk End User

• Monthly Capacity : 62.5 X Building Tonnage Capacity
• Consumption Charge : 0.49 X per TR-Hr
• BTU Meter Cost : AED 75,000* - AED 80,000* (depends on project)
• BTU Meter service charge : AED 400/month
• Reconnection charge : AED 15,000 * (in case of disconnection due to non-payment)
• Deposit : Building Square feet X AED 0.475

A district cooling system (DCS) distributes thermal energy in the form of chilled water or other media from a central source to multiple buildings through a network of underground pipes for use in space and process cooling. The cooling or heat rejection is usually provided from a central cooling plant, thus eliminating the need for separate systems in individual buildings.

A DCS consists of three primary components: the central plant, the distribution network and the consumer system. The central plant may include the cooling equipment, power generation and thermal storage. The distribution or piping network is often the most expensive portion of the DCS and warrants careful design to optimise its use. The consumer system would usually comprise air-handling units and chilled water piping in the building.

Applications

The distribution medium of most DCS is usually chilled water. Condenser water can also be the distribution medium, while the central plant is made up of cooling towers or heat rejection equipment. In such systems, each building has individual chiller plants but without cooling towers or heat rejection equipment. This system would be suitable for existing building clusters, as each building is already equipped with chiller plants. Supplying condenser water to these buildings would allow the building owner to get rid of the cooling towers and reduce their maintenance effort and eliminate the risk of legionnaire's disease arising from inadequate maintenance. Poor maintenance would also lead to high potable water consumption.

The centralised heat rejection would facilitate more cost-effective operation of these plants that may become more attractive with rising potable water costs. In Singapore, there is an opportunity to exploit the sea as a huge heat sink that can supply unlimited cooling capacity to cool the condenser water without consuming potable water. Figures 1 and 2 show a typical schematic of a condenser water-based DCS with indirect seawater cooling and thermal storage that can be implemented in Singapore. In addition, the condenser water distribution system is significantly lower in cost compared with chilled water-based systems. Condenser water pipes usually do not require insulation and can be directly buried underground with no concern about heat gain from the soil, as the condenser water temperature is usually higher than the soil temperature.

Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Cogeneration, Thermal Storage and Desalination

The cogeneration of thermal energy and electric power allows for a much higher combined efficiency of energy use. The thermal energy can be used as an energy source for producing chilled water, using absorption chillers. Cogeneration can increase the efficiency of fossil fuel-based plants from an average of 40% to over 80%. The increase in efficiency can translate into lower costs and lowered emissions of pollutants than conventional methods of generating electricity. Due to the need to be in close proximity to a market for the heat produced, cogeneration power plants tend to be smaller in size and designed to emit fewer pollutants. This is most often done by using cleaner fuels such as natural gas. With the deregulation of the power industry and the adoption of demand side management by major consumers of electricity, the potential for expanded use of cogeneration in the future is great.

In addition, there is good economy in expanding the use of thermal ice storage for DCS. This would exploit off-peak power, made possible in Singapore as the power industry is being deregulated and the difference between peak and off-peak electricity cost widens. This will effectively lower the operating cost of DCS. By shifting a part of the chilling load to the night (using off-peak electricity), chiller equipment requirements can be reduced and sized closer to the average load than the peak load. This would translate into higher chiller operating efficiencies and lower the cost per unit cooling even more. In the case of cogeneration, spare generation capacities during off-peak hours can be used to produce ice for cooling during the day. This means a smaller cogeneration plant used for producing ice would not be competing for energy use during peak hours.

Cogeneration used to produce thermal ice slurry for storage can also be combined with desalination. This mode offers another avenue for harvesting drinking water from seawater, besides providing cooling using cheaper off-peak power. This concept utilises vacuum ice technology that employs the phenomenon of the triple point of water where vapour, liquid and ice co-exist. Seawater is subjected to triple-point conditions in a tank under vacuum conditions. Evaporation of part of the water would force the formation of ice crystals. The melting of the ice slurry would then supply both fresh water and cooling.

Conclusion
The deregulation of the power industry, in line with the trends towards outsourcing and environmental concerns, is fuelling interest in DCS, thermal storage and co-generation. DCS applies in most areas with appreciable concentration of cooling loads, such as industrial complexes, densely populated urban areas and high density building clusters, and can offer economic and environmental benefits. As the central plant of a DCS is large, there will be economies of scale and higher thermal efficiency as compared to that of many isolated small systems. A larger plant usually comprises of a number of capacity modules, which can be operated to match the combined cooling load. In addition, a centralised plant would be more optimal in terms of operation and maintenance. There is no need for individual building owners to employ operations and maintenance personnel for chiller plants. Usable space in the building would increase as large rooms for housing the cooling systems are no longer required.

District cooling is similar to A/C service. During the community development feasibility study, the master developer has chosen district cooling as a better option for chilled water considering the cost, environment and the cooling load. All technical equipments were arranged and installed during the construction of your building.

District cooling service could be relatively expensive compared to conventional chilled water through portable/split or central chilled water because of the following reasons:

• It is an environmentally friendly cooling alternative
• It helps save on electricity consumption
• It costs less to build the infrastructure
• Maintenance cost of the network is shouldered by the district cooling company

Capacity charge, as calculated by PDC, is the product of the rate set out in the agreement per TR multiplied by the TR capacity supplied to your property. Capacity charge is the share of the building developer in the overall infrastructure cost of the district cooling plant and network. This is based on the required cooling tonnage from the developer at the time of service connection. The end-users (unit holders) are responsible when their units are handed over to them by the developer. This is a mandatory charge to be paid by the customer and this is charged by all district cooling companies serving in different parts of Dubai.

For as long as your contract with Palm District Cooling (PDC) is valid.

All chillers are owned by PDC.

The paid amount at the time of customer’s registration is for set up fee and deposit.

This is not a service charge; it is your utility charge for chilled water services.

Capacity charge has to be paid as long as the agreement is valid with PDC. But if services are not delivered for some reason, there will be no consumption charges.

A customer has the option to pay the capacity charge monthly or annually. A customer who lives abroad can pay online.

No, it does not cover the maintenance charge; A/C maintenance inside the apartment is the responsibility of the developer or the owners' association.

The building's design consultant advises the developer on the tonnage required per unit to provide sufficient cooling according to the design.

We charge capacity and consumption to the registered unit holder for each unit on a monthly basis. The owner and tenant can agree between themselves for the payment of these charges.

It varies from month to month depending on the cooling load of the unit. However, we charge a flat rate throughout the year.

The meters for chilled water are usually over the false ceiling outside the apartment. You can ask for a meter test but you will be charged for this service if the meter is found to be working properly.

As per the agreement with the customer, PDC has rights to estimated consumption from time to time if the required meter readings are not available to calculate actual consumption.

We bill our customers for the actual consumption based on their meter readings. However, we can estimate consumption from time to time as per the agreement if actual meter readings are not available due to some reason.

The meter is owned by PDC. You are paying only the set-up charges.

The deposit is against any amount owed or outstanding from you at any time. If there are no amounts owed or outstanding from you at the completion of the term, the deposit will be refunded to you within 30 days of the payment of your final bill.

The service charge is the fee charged each month for the meter reading and billing services provided.

Reconnection fee is charged as per company policy at a rate of AED 1,000. For bulk meters, it is AED 15,000.

If you have an agreement with PDC and you have been disconnected due to non-payment then the reconnection fee has to be paid for reconnection.

The customer has to bear the bounced cheque penalty charge regardless of the reason for which the cheque bounced.

You can find it under service terms & conditions on our website

You can pay by

1. Online payment gateway through our website www.palmutilities.com
2. Bank transfer through EmiratesNBD or Citibank
3. Direct through our shop

The deposit is charged based on the number of bed rooms because for bigger units the connected load is more than the smaller units

There is an approval process involved in deposit refund, which takes time.

The bill must be paid within the due date; nonpayment will lead to disconnection. The property will only be reconnected on payment of total due amount together with the reconnection fee. This goes with all other fees.

PDC doesn’t send a separate disconnection notice as it is already mentioned in the bill.

Capacity charge is not for maintenance and servicing.

As a policy and for security reasons, we don’t send refund cheques through courier.

The PDC meter is usually installed over the false ceiling outside the apartment. You can check it with the facility management company managing your building.

A service charge doesn’t include the capacity charge.