Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has announced the signing of an agreement to provide district cooling services to Meydan master community with a total capacity of 382,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) to meet the needs of the 750 existing and upcoming buildings in the City and acquire the existing district cooling plant for a value of Dh100 million.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Airlines and Group, and Chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy.

Also present at the signing ceremony were Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, chairman of Meydan City Corporation, and Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and chairman of the Board of Directors of Empower. The agreement was signed by Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, and Issam Galadari, CEO of Meydan City Corporation, the master developer of Meydan, which is one of the largest mixed-use development projects in Dubai.

As per the agreement, Empower will provide the entire Meydan master community with its environmentally friendly district cooling services to meet the needs of the existing and upcoming projects which will be a total of 750 buildings.

Currently, Meydan Racecourse projects, which include “Meydan Boat House”, “The Gallery”, “Meydan Hotel”, “Meydan Receiving Barn”, “DHL Building” and others, are being supplied with district cooling energy through the existing district cooling plant with a total capacity of 45,000 RT, of which, 25,000 RT are connected to these projects. In addition, Empower will invest more than Dh1.6 billion to build four district cooling plants and construct the pipeline network in the Development to meet the demand for energy efficient district cooling services.

According to Empower, the new acquisition deal reflects company’s firm plans for the future of district cooling sector, represents a qualitative surge in the growth of the company and its projects portfolio, features an expansion of its services and an increase in its market share in Dubai to reach 79.5 per cent.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed said that the district cooling industry represents as the cornerstone of the sustainable development of modern cities. Competency in developing and providing world-class district cooling services to customers is a legitimate goal that Dubai is keen to encourage, through the booming investment climate and positive legislative and legal structures, he added. This comes in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, with regards to promoting sustainable developments.

He added that Meydan is one of Dubai’s most promising development projects with distinctive residential, commercial and tourist destinations where Empower will play a prominent role in providing environmentally friendly and energy efficient district cooling services.

Commenting on the signing of the agreement, the chairman of Meydan City Corporation said that it is a strategic decision that allows Meydan to focus on its core business, reinforces the company’s commitment to ensuring the comfort and wellbeing of residents, tourists and visitors, and reflects Meydan’s confidence in Empower’s ability to supply world-class services at the development.

For his part, Al Tayer stated that the agreement comes in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to promote the green economy. This is done by achieving the objectives of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to increase the production capacity of clean energy to 75 per cent of the energy mix by 2050, and the Dubai Demand Side Management Strategy, which aims to reduce demand for electricity and water by 30 per cent by 2030, as well as increasing reliance on clean and renewable energy sources, by increasing the area covered by district cooling in the Emirate and protecting the environment and natural resources. Empower district cooling solutions adopt the best practices and technologies.

“The agreement enables both parties to carry out their tasks to the fullest, and Empower’s acquisition of the district cooling allows Meydan to enhance its efforts to continue developing the city to reach its main goal of completing the remaining urban, tourist, recreational and residential icons under construction,” added Al Tayer.

From his side, the CEO of Empower said: “The acquisition of Meydan district cooling systems reflects Empower’s diligence on attaining excellence in providing district cooling services and its pioneering role in adopting advanced technologies and solutions of artificial intelligence in its operations, to ensure the highest customer happiness, conservation of natural resources and rationalisation of energy consumption.”