Diriyah aims to cool streets to tourist-friendly 28C

• Attempt to maintain summer tourism
• AC combined with traditional methods
• Electricity demand will rise

Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Gate is readying outdoors air-conditioning to bring the average temperature of its plazas, walkways and open-air dining districts to about 28C during the scorching summer months. 

The flagship giga-project will combine the technology with reflective road materials, the planting of 6.5 million trees and traditional methods to keep temperatures down, Diriyah told AGBI. 

The strategy, revealed at AGBI’s construction forum last month, is designed to make the district usable even when Riyadh’s heat climbs past 45C. 

It reflects the scale of the challenge facing Diriyah as it seeks to become a major tourism and leisure destination in one of the world’s hottest capitals.

District cooling, in which a central plant distributes chilled water for air-conditioning to multiple buildings, is widely used across the Gulf and is now becoming a critical component of Saudi Arabia’s mega-developments.

One of Saudi Arabia’s largest district cooling providers, Tabreed, wrote in 2022 that 70 percent of the country’s electrical consumption went towards cooling. Unlike individual AC units, district cooling centralises the process, making it more energy-efficient. 

Diriyah is targeting 50 million visitors annually by 2030, meaning climate control is needed to ensure high footfall. Diriyah later clarified that it will also use mud bricks, which are naturally cool to the touch, as well as green spaces, narrow lanes and cloth shades to keep temperatures down. 

Elsewhere in the region, such as Dubai, most outdoor attractions actively deter visiting in the heat. Motiongate theme park, a largely outdoor venue, says on its website that visitors should arrive from November to March, when “the place experiences pleasant weather and the scorching heat from the sun is less”. 

Dubai’s outdoor Global Village operates only between October and May, closing for summer. Saudi Arabia’s soon-to-open Six Flags theme park writes on its website: “[Qiddiya] has a sunny climate, so remember to wear sunscreen and plan regular water breaks to stay hydrated.”

Diriyah Company signed an infrastructure agreement in March last year with City Cool Cooling Company to deliver district cooling for the project’s first phase. The deal includes a central plant and a distribution network capable of supplying up to 72,500 tonnes of refrigeration. 

Valued at $186 million, the contract was one of the most valuable Diriyah had awarded up to that point. Chilled water from the plant will serve all non-residential assets in the initial phase, including retail, cultural venues and hospitality.

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Cooling technology is energy-intensive, and upcoming rollouts will have to comply with Saudi efforts to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. As mega-projects including Diriyah, Neom and Qiddiya move from design to construction, the kingdom’s electricity demand is expected to rise.

With Saudi Arabia accelerating its push toward a 50 percent renewable energy mix by 2030 and net-zero by 2060, consultancy Knight Frank said this week that solar power could cover as much as 40 percent of Riyadh’s energy demand.

Wesley Thomson, Knight Frank’s head of ESG, Mena, said: “Although distributed solar remains a nascent market, commercial and industrial installations have begun to emerge in industrial zones, logistics parks and new developments in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah, reflecting growing interest in energy diversification and cost efficiency, as well as rising demand from commercial occupiers for ‘green assets’.”

The research team assessed around 870,000 buildings across Riyadh, identifying 158.2 square kilometres of technically usable rooftop area.