Empower adds Dubai International Airport to its district cooling portfolio

Empower, also known as, Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation has officially become the main and sole district cooling services provider for Dubai International Airport, following the acquisition of the rights to operate the district cooling systems of the airport.

The deal with Dubai Aviation City Corporation gave Empower the operating rights for Dubai International Airport’s five district cooling plants. The cooling plants, which are valued at $300m(Dhs1.1bn), have a combined total capacity of 110,000 refrigeration tonnes (RT).

Empower plans to link the airport plants to its operational, production, distribution and administrative systems.

“Today, Empower opens a new chapter in its supremacy in the history of district cooling and its global leadership in this industry,” said Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower. Shafar said Empower is honoured to serve the world’s largest airport in terms of the number of passengers and the company is committed to providing quality cooling services with superior standards.

Dubai International Airport joins Empower’s district cooling portfolio with a total capacity of 110,000 RT.

The total capacity of the plants is equivalent to 11 times the consumption of the world’s tallest tower, the Burj Khalifa.

Five district cooling plants will be linked… pic.twitter.com/kr136DEyU1

— EMPOWER (@Empower_ae) May 19, 2023

Dubai International Airport’s cooling capacity of 110,000 RT is equivalent to 11 times the consumption of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.

With the addition of Dubai International Airport, the company’s district cooling portfolio now includes the Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai Healthcare City, Meydan City, Dubai Studio City, Dubai Maritime City, Dubai Land, Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR), Bluewaters Island and Business Bay, in addition to the city’s famous skyscrapers and other mega projects.

Empower financial metrics

Meanwhile, the district cooling company entered into several exclusivity agreements in the quarter of the year including concessions agreements with major real estate development projects.

Empower signed an agreement with Dubai Maritime City in February to provide its projects with district cooling services with a capacity exceeding 63,000 RT. The company agreed with Sobha Real Estate to provide 17,000 RT district cooling services for the Sobha Hartland project in March.

The company signed agreements for several developments in different parts of Dubai, including Business Bay, Jumeirah Village Circle, Dubailand, Dubai Studio City, DIFC, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Barsha Heights with a combined cooling capacity of 24,000 RT.

In April, Empower said it would invest Dhs102m to upgrade and modernise its district cooling plant in JBR. The upgrades at the JBR plant incorporate cutting-edge technologies to improve the energy efficiency and reliability of the cooling system.

The JBR plant serves many mega buildings and nearly 19 luxury hotels including the Caesars Palace Hotel, the Address Beach Resort in addition to the Ain Dubai, the tallest observation wheel in the world and the iconic Madam Tussaud Museum.

The district cooling firm also started operating a new cooling plant in Dubailand with a capacity of 47,000 RT, which will provide cooling services to residents of the Dubai Land Residence Complex.

Empower’s pro forma net profit rose by 5.7 per cent to Dhs191.6m in the first quarter of the year and on an absolute net profit basis, the company posted a net profit of Dhs167.4m. Its earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) reached Dhs1.40bn in the same period under review, up 11.1 per cent compared to Dhs1.26bn a year earlier.

Read: Empower to invest $27.8m to upgrade JBR cooling plant