Empower awards Voltas Dhs260m contract for construction of cooling plant at DIFC North District

The deal was signed by Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, and Shaukat Ali Mir, Regional Director and Deputy COO of Voltas.

Under the contract, Voltas will complete civil as well as mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) works in addition to the construction of the 66,000 refrigeration tonne (RT) district cooling plant. The project is expected to be completed in 15 months.

Bin Shafar said: "Empower is proud to be part of a hi-profile and iconic project such as DIFC, adding to our growing portfolio of leading projects. This association will also give us the opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to quality, which is the core value of our organization.

"Voltas Limited was chosen for its successful track record in implementing massive projects, strict adherence to delivery schedules, and its commitment to the highest international quality standards. As one of the major engineering solutions providers for a wide spectrum of industries such as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, Voltas brings substantial expertise to our project deliverables".

Spread over 110 acres, the Dubai International Financial Centre is the world's fastest growing international financial centre, being developed along the lines of other global centres such as New York, London and Hong Kong. The Empower project will provide the financial centre with green and environment-friendly district cooling that will effect substantial savings in energy consumption.

Empower recently unveiled the 35,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT) capacity Al Quoz district cooling plant scheduled for completion by June 2009. In December last year, it awarded Dhs200m contract to GDC (Gulf District Cooling) Ascon, a vastly diversified organisation, to set up a 40,000 refrigeration tonne (RT) district cooling plant for the Business Bay Executive Towers (BBET), a mixed use community development within Business Bay, Dubai.

Empower, a joint venture between TECOM Investments and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), currently handles projects for several prominent clusters including the Dubai Healthcare City and the City of Arabia.