It is not a mystery as many are trying to promote it. the cost savings on water-cooled chiller systems compared to air-cooled chiller systems is evident and aligned with both reason and logic.

Air cooled chillers depend on air dry bulb temperature to cool refrigerant, while water cooled chillers depend on air wet bulb temperature (which is always lower than dry bulb and significantly lower than dry bulb most of the time).

Therefore, the work to be done by compressors on water cooled chillers is less compared to that done by the compressor of an air cooled chiller of same load.

the analysis made in this video is based on well studied numbers based on experience in the field, researches and some governmental reports.

0:00 General Comparison between air-cooled and water-cooled chiller
1:24 Energy efficiency of each system
2:00 Example on dry bulb Vs wet bulb effect on chiller compressor
3:50 Installation cost comparison of 10,000 TR chiller plant
9:08 Operational price comparison and annual savings