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announced that it has finalized the strategic development plan for
the city’s integrated utilities area. Dubai Maritime City’s utilities area
will provide centralized distribution of all utility services for the city,
incorporating the infrastructure for the Water Division, district
cooling, sewage, drainage, irrigation and utility tunnel. Excavation
for the district cooling system is almost complete, along with
excavation and pipe laying for the Water Division.
“Dubai Maritime City has been planned with the welfare of
residents as the main consideration. Providing amenities for a premium standard of living boosts the maritime city’s reputation as a
premier investment and business destination,” said Amer Ali, chief
executive officer, Dubai Maritime City.
On completion, the city will encompass Harbour Offices, Harbour
Residences, the Maritime Centre, an Academic Quarter, a Marina
District and the industrial quarter managed by Jadaf Dubai. It will
also showcase the United Arab Emirates’ first National Maritime
Museum and the Gulf region’s largest ship lift for ship repair and
maintenance. Moreover, Dubai Maritime City offers investors
attractive incentives such as free-zone benefits, government support
and a tax-free business environment.
Tabreed Signs New Agreements
Tabreed has signed 20-year agreements to provide cooling
services to three new projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In Dubai,
the company will supply the Rolex Building with 2,200 tons of
refrigeration and the Offices Tower with 1,350 tons of refrigeration.
The SEBA Real Estate project in Abu Dhabi will receive 3,600 tons
of refrigeration.
Tabreed began providing cooling services to the Offices Tower
in December 2007 and will start supplying the Rolex Building in
February 2009 from its Sheikh Zayed Road plant. The company’s
Spinney’s plant will start cooling the SEBA project in March 2010.
Q-Cool to Serve Danet
Abu Dhabi Development
Q-Cool LLC, the district cooling subsidiary of Emirates Utilities
Company Holding, has signed an agreement with Al Qudra Holding
to provide district cooling services to Danet Abu Dhabi mixed-use
development. The development is Al Qudra Real Estate’s landmark
project to provide a new, state-of-the-art urban community in uptown
Abu Dhabi. The community, with its metropolitan look and futuristic
skyline, will include hotels, residential and commercial towers, and
a shopping mall. It is expected to be finished in the next three years.
Cooling systems and services for the buildings will be provided
by Q-Cool’s plant located the Airport Road in Abu Dhabi. The first
phase is expected to produce 37,500 tons of cooling capacity and
be fully implemented by the latter part of 2009.
ENOC, Palm Utilities Sign Agreement
Leading Edge Technology Services (LETS), a subsidiary of
Emirates National Oil Co., has entered into a consultancy services
agreement with Dubai-based Palm Utilities to provide customer
relationship management (CRM) and billing implementation services
for the company’s planned projects, totaling 1. 5 million tons’ worth
of development.
According to the agreement, LETS will provide implementation
services for Palm Utilities’ Oracle Customer Care and Billing systems
as well as its two subsidiary companies, Palm Water and Palm District
Cooling. The contract will cover implementation, training, documentation, integration, reports and printing solutions and cash
point installations to successfully deliver CRM and billing projects
as well as to assist Palm Utilities in achieving its business objectives.
New Qatari Firm Announced
Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co. (Diar) announced Dec.
16, 2007, that it had reached an agreement with Arcapita Bank
B.S.C.(c) to establish a joint venture company that will specialize
in the provision and operation of utilities and infrastructure services.
The joint venture company will be named Diar Infrastructure
Services Co. (Diar Infra).
Diar Infra will be established as a Qatari company with an
exclusive mandate to develop a number of utility services for all
Diar-owned, -controlled or -mandated real estate projects. These
services will include district cooling, sewage treatment and waste
management, water desalination and treatment solutions, power
generation and energy management solutions, telecommunications and any other infrastructure or utility requirements deemed
necessary by Diar.
Diar Infra’s initial business and immediate focus will be to
develop, own and operate the substantial utility requirements of
Lusail Real Estate Project and will subsequently extend its offering
to other real estate projects in the State of Qatar as well as other
countries where Diar owns or develops real estate projects that
require any of the above services.
PEIE, Tabreed Oman Sign Agreement
The Times of Oman reported in January that The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) signed an agreement with Tabreed
Oman to provide the first of its kind district cooling system to Sohar
Industrial Estate, located between Muscat and Dubai. This landmark
agreement was signed by Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of
commerce and industry and chairman of PEIE, and P. Mohammed
Ali, chairman, Tabreed Oman.
By using district cooling, PEIE expects to reduce the amount
of electrical energy used by its tenants by up to 50 percent. Hilal
Al Ahsani, CEO of PEIE, said “This significant joint venture emphasizes
the importance PEIE places on providing a more efficient infrastructure network to its growing number of tenants in Sohar Industrial
Estate. We are delighted to be rolling out a technology that has
such strong environmental credentials.”
Tabreed Oman’s project, worth around 12-15 million Omani
rial ($31-39 million), will help PEIE tenants in Sohar Industrial
Estate to reduce both their capital investment and operating
expenses plus save energy.