Dubai Municipality signs AED 3 billion contract with Tabreed

This massive project will comprise 43 metro stations that will initially require a cooling load of 36,000 TR (tons of refrigeration) and upon completion, the cooling load will peak to 350,000 TR.

The agreement was signed by Qassim Sultan, Director General of Dubai Municipality, and Mohamed Saif Al Mazrouei, Chairman of Tabreed, in the presence of members of the Higher Committee for Dubai Metro and officials from Tabreed.

Sultan said the agreement underlines the potentials of national companies to compete and excel in offering the best services. "Besides, this is also in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, and Chairman of Dubai Municipality and General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Minister of Defence, to reinforce public-private sectors partnership. The agreement also underscores the municipality's commitment towards encouraging private sector to make long-term investments in various civic projects," he said.

He noted that many companies had been competing over the Dubai Metro contract but Tabreed was chosen because it is a national company with worldwide leadership and because it possesses humongous facilities and capabilities which will be required to cool the various developments that will take place near the Dubai Metro passageway and will exceed the 300,000 TR.

Mohamed Al Mazrouei thanked Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashed Al Maktoum and Dubai Municipality represented by Qassim Sultan for their trust in Tabreed and hoped this would be the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship between both parties.

"Tabreed has proven its leadership not only across the region but also on international levels as the company has recently been awarded two gold awards in the United States from IDEA, the International District Energy Association, for having the highest number of spaces cooled and the highest number of buildings connected in 2004," he said.

"Tabreed has the financial and technical potential to tackle and fully support this project which is considered the biggest in the Middle East Region," he added.

Details of the contract:

The 30-year contract has been awarded to Tabreed, after an in-depth technical and financial analysis of the offers submitted by several companies. Tabreed's offer was the best among them in terms of financial and technical factors.

The contract was drawn up in line with the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) system under which the company would offer centralised cooling to all Metro stations as per international standards so as to ensure a care-free environment for metro passengers. The company will also offer centralised cooling to all development projects undertaken along with the metro stations.

District cooling is widely used throughout the UAE and around the world, piping chilled water from a centralised plant to a range of residential, commercial and government buildings. Landlords are attracted to the maintenance-free, economic and environmentally friendly cooling benefits of the technology, while tenants enjoy reduced ambient noise and better temperature control in their homes, making it the perfect solution to all cooling requirements.