DCO Energy, LLC, Mays Landing, N.J., has begun installing a $100-million cooling technology at the new Bara Mar Resort under construction in Nassau, Bahamas. DCO is the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor on the project, which it calls the world’s first seawater cooling district (SCD) system.

Ocean Thermal Energy Corp., Lancaster, Pa., signed a 30-year energy service contract with the resort last December and will build, own and operate the 12,000-ton SCD system. The system is expected to be operational in December 2013, about a year before the multibillion-dollar resort construction is completed.

The SCD system, which does not include refrigerants, will supply chilled seawater from a depth of more than 3,600 ft. DCO says this is an environmentally friendly technology that will save up to 90% of the costs of using traditional energy sources and will reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 25,000 tons.