ABU DHABI, 27th November, 2013 (WAM) -- Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC), announced that its joint venture company with Dalkia Utilities, the Saadiyat Cooling, has successfully commissioned its first district cooling plant serving the Beach District on Saadiyat island.
The plant, currently providing cooling services to St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort and Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, has an installed capacity of 10,000 Refrigeration Ton (RT), expandable to 12,500 RT when new developments such as Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is connected. This major milestone in the development of Saadiyat?s infrastructure concurs to prepare the island to welcoming its first museum in 2015. Through a 29-year concession contract signed in 2010, Saadiyat Cooling is responsible for the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of three district cooling plants on Saadiyat island, which will serve the Saadiyat Beach District and the Saadiyat Cultural District. This Public Private Partnership concession is the first contract of its kind to be awarded on Saadiyat. The project incorporates three plants, and is one of the Middle East?s largest district cooling plant operations. Once completed, the three plants will have a combined capacity of over seventy thousand tons of refrigeration (246 MWr). Jassim Al Hammadi, Deputy Director of - Infrastructure at TDIC, said: "The completion of this district cooling plant is an important step forward in the infrastructure development of Saadiyat and a great milestone for Saadiyat Cooling which is already engaged in the construction of the second district cooling plant serving the Cultural District and which has a design capacity of 35,000 RT."Christophe Maquet, Chief Executive Officer of Dalkia Utilities, said: "District cooling makes long-term, sustainable and environmentally-aware cooling strategies far more achievable, especially in the Middle East. We are proud that Dalkia?s expertise in overall energy management already contributes to reducing Saadiyat Island?s environmental impact and carbon footprint." Dalkia currently manages 800 district energy systems across 35 countries and will perform engineering works, manage the construction of the plants, and take charge of all the operations during the whole concession period.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2013.
