Abu Dhabi, UAE: District Cooling utility company, National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), has announced the acquisition of a District Cooling plant from International Capital Trading (ICT). The plant, the company said, will be owned by Prime District Cooling (Prime), a special purpose vehicle set up by Tabreed and ICT as joint venture (JV) partners to acquire the plant. Tabreed said that it will own a 75% share in Prime, with ICT holding the remaining 25% share of the JV. The acquisition, it added, has been mainly funded by an AED 80 million, 15-year non-recourse project finance loan from First Gulf Bank, Abu Dhabi.

Tabreed said that the acquisition will strengthen its portfolio to 71 District Cooling plants throughout the GCC region, and add more than 11,500 Refrigeration Tonnes (TR) of cooling to its existing connected capacity.

The plant, the company revealed, provides cooling to ICT’s Nation Towers development, located on the Abu Dhabi Corniche, which is one of the most prominent landmarks in Abu Dhabi. The development, it added, includes Nation Galleria Mall, Nation Towers Offices, Nation Towers Residences, Nation Riviera Beach Club and the St. Regis Abu Dhabi Hotel.

“The acquisition underscores our commitment to support and fulfill current and future infrastructure needs of large scale developments,” said Jasim Husain Thabet, CEO of Tabreed. “Our partnership with ICT, a leader in Abu Dhabi’s business environment, enables the landmark development to benefit from Tabreed’s 18 years of experience in operating and maintaining district cooling plants which in turn contributes to the sustainable and economic development of the UAE. We look forward to working with ICT on this venture and growing our portfolio of customers that we support across the region.”

Hamad Abdullah Al Shamsi, CEO of ICT, added: “Tabreed has a longstanding track record of providing quality services to its clients and partners in the UAE and across the GCC. Our partnership enhances our ability to provide Tabreed’s high quality and efficient district cooling services to the guests, residents and businesses of Nation Towers.”