Department Name


Metro Nashville DES Facts

  • Construction began on the $48.3 million Metro Nashville District Energy System (DES) facility in November 2002; work was completed and the new DES facility began operating in December 2003, seven months ahead of schedule.
  • The DES facility provides steam and chilled water to heat and cool 40 downtown buildings.

  • DES employs 24 people, including 19 former Nashville Thermal Transfer Corporation employees. Tim Hestle is general manager of the DES.

  • Steam and chilled water are pumped to the buildings through 26,000 feet – or five miles – of underground pipes.

  • DES is one of Nashville Electric Service’s largest customers.

  • The largest DES customer is the state of Tennessee, which has 14 buildings on the system, including the state Capitol.

  • The facility operates nine chillers and four boilers, and has the capacity to provide 23,400 tons of chilled water for cooling and 260,000 pounds of steam for heating.

  • The largest pipe in the DES system measures 42 inches in diameter; the smallest is only a half inch.
  • DES circulates roughly 2 million gallons of chilled water at any given time.
    Each minute, up to 42,000 gallons of chilled water are pumped through the system.

  • Steam travels through the pipes to downtown buildings at an average rate of 70 miles per hour.

  • Nearly 100 percent of the water used for chilled water cooling is recycled, while only 30 percent of the water used for steam is new water, and 70 percent is recycled.