Pinellas County Central Energy Plant Replacement

Williamson Design Associates provided the design of a 4,500-ton central utilities plant for Pinellas County in Downtown Clearwater.  The chiller plant was designed to meet the City of Clearwater Community Development guidelines.

The new District Cooling Plant and the distributed underground piping services seven County buildings in Downtown Clearwater (totaling approximately 500,000 SF).  The District Cooling Plant (7,900 SF) initially provides for three, 670-ton, water cooled chillers for a total of 2,010 tons and was designed with the capability to grow to 4,500 tons.  One of the three chillers is set up for thermal storage (ice) to take advantage of Power Company rate structures.  Three cooling towers are provided along with the future ability to implement geothermal cooling.  The thermal storage system is sized for 486 ton-hours.  By centralizing the equipment and taking advantage of economy of scale, the County realizes multiple benefits, including energy efficiency and redundancy for more reliable cooling.