The district heating & cooling and co-generation segment includes all types of generation facilities (whether stand-alone of co-generation) that include the production and offtake of heat or cooling energy. Heat offtake can be derived directly from the boiler in a thermal plant or from the steam cycle of thermal power plant and from the waste heat derived from a thermal power plant and/or a district cooling plant's chiller. The heat energy can be distributed as steam through an insulated steam pipe network or more commonly converted to hot water, which is generated from a heat exchanger and then distributed through an insulated water pipe network. District cooling plants generate cold water or other coolant through wither a compressor and condenser or through absortion chiller technologies, where the cold water or other coolant is distributed through an insulated pipe network. In many cases, a district heating and cooling facility is combined.

District heating and cooling facilities located near concentrated user markets (such as urban residential, commercial and industrial areas; governmental, healthcare, educational, corporate, industrial campuses, etc.) can offer significant heating and cooling efficiencies in comparison to individual heating and cooling units. Due to their size and scale, these plants can generate heat and cooling energy much more efficiently than can smaller unit, building or campus installations. Furthermore, to the extent that a power generation (or power and water desalination) facility can be co-located near the district heating/cooling plant, even further efficiency gains can be realized in the form of a co-generation plant.

In the case that one or more local renewable thermal energy source is available in the form of solar hot water, biomass/biogas (from local sewage sludge, solid waste, agricultural and forest biproducts) or geothermal heat energy is available, these renewable energy inputs can also be utilized along with fossil fuel, nuclear or other thermal heat source in order to further improve the efficiencies and potentially further reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption of a district heating/cooling or co-generation facility. In the case of industrial cooling, any surplus off-peak electricity production from renewables (e.g. run of river hydro, wind, geothermal, wave and tidal) can also be applied to run a district cooling plant's chiller if there is significant off-peak cooling demand as may be the case for certain industrial cooling applications.

Our advisory services can help our clients align the capabilities of the counterparty's capital and "know-how", efficiencies, life-cycle operational and maintenance discipline (including plant decommissioning), and management resources with the public sector objectives of most efficiently providing and ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient electricity (and heat/cooling or desalinated water) generation to citizens and business users at affordable prices (energy tariffs, fees and taxes). We can also assist our clients in identifying and procuring suitable vendors, technology and service providers in the co-generation and district heating & cooling segment. Our experts have significant experience and competence in delivering generation assets under various development, financing, operating and ownership models, including Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC), Engineering Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM), Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Design-Build-Own-Operate (DBOO), Design-Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (DBOOT), and similar variations. We also have significant experience advising on Public-Private Partnership (P3), privatization and M&A transactions within the energy and utilities sector. Our broad and global experience includes all forms of P3 models, under regulated or deregulated tariff regimes, offtake agreements (such as various forms of PPAs and CfDs and similar contractual agreements), availability payment, as well as stock/share, trade and asset sales/acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) with respect to energy and utilities companies and assets.

Within the co-generation and district heating & cooling segment, DCS experts maintain relationships with related project consultants and participants including: both international and local legal advisors; technical, engineering and environmental/social advisors, economic/market consultants; contractors, vendors and technology providers; strategic and financial equity sponsors; lenders (including commercial lenders, international/development financial institutions (IFIs/DFIs), Export Credit Agencies and Export-Import Banks (ECA/Ex-IMs), institutional lenders, bond funds and investment banks) and credit rating agencies (if necessary). We are always prepared and highly experienced in taking on a lead transaction advisory or project/program management role where we coordinate and manage (in some cases, procure and retain via subcontract) various technical, legal and other consultants required for the project. On behalf of our clients we are prepared and accustomed to leading and concluding negotiations with governmental/public sector or equity sponsors, contractors and venders, lenders, rating agencies and regulators, on behalf of our clients, as may be relevant for a given client project.

In many client cases, there may also be a significant nexus between co-generation and district heating & cooling projects, assets and businesses and other sectors that we specialize in, such as water and wastewater (in the case of water desalination and power plants or biomass/sewage sludge energy recovery plants); solid waste (in the case of biomass/solid waste "waste-to-energy" plants); energy transmission, distribution, sales and supply and trading (electricity, heat and/or cooling grid evacuation); social infrastructure and real estate (district heating/cooling within healthcare, higher education, government administrative and other large commercial/residential/industrial buildings); and, industrials (E&C, heavy industries). We are prepared to bring our complementary expertise in these other relevant sectors to our generation sector clients, as their specific client project may benefit.

Please click on the below links to learn more about the specific services related to the co-generation and district heating & cooling segment that DCS experts can offer: