The world’s largest cooling plant of its kind has been installed in Makkah’s Grand Mosque as part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to ensure that worshippers perform their rituals in the cool and fresh environment inside Al-Haram. This is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to provide high-quality services to visitors and pilgrims of the Holy Mosques using the latest technologies.
The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques works on ensuring fresh air inside the Grand Mosque using ultraviolet light air purification technology. The filtration process is carried out nine times a day before releasing the well-treated fresh air into the mosque.
The air filtration process, which ensures 100 percent air purity, is carried out in three stages: moving air into filters using fans, capturing pollutants and particles, and then pushing back clean air into space.
The director of operation and maintenance for the presidency, Mohsen Al-Salami, pointed out that there are two cooling stations inside the Grand Mosque that are the largest of their kind in the world: the Ajyad station, which produces 35,300 tonnes of refrigeration, of which about 24,500 tonnes are used, and the new central station, which has a capacity of 120,000 tonnes of refrigeration.
The central station is currently feeding the Third Saudi Expansion as well as half of Mas’a (the area for the ritual of Sa’i between Safa and Marwa). This station will feed all facilities of the Grand Mosque in the future.
Al-Salami explained that the presidency also makes backup cooling stations besides the main ones available to preserve the set temperatures in case of malfunction and ensure the purity of the air inside the Grand Mosque, adding that there is periodical maintenance of the air cooling system carried out by highly qualified engineers and technicians.
