Emirates District Cooling (Emicool) said it plans to increase output capacity by more than half to meet demand arising from the World Expo 2020 development boom. The company is to expand its operations to 500,000 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) – the amount of heat that is removed from the air – up from its current 330,800 TR.
“The demand within Dubai Investments Park and across the UAE is on the rise amid burgeoning construction and we are fast augmenting our capacity in line with this,” said Adib Moubadder, Emicool’s chief executive.
Dubai expects as many as 25 million visitors during Expo 2020, and developments are growing rapidly, with Dubai Investments Park preparing to build eight hotels and service apartment buildings in the next five years.
Dubai Investments Park said the emirate would require an additional 45,000 hotel rooms and investments of about US$7.1 billion were expected for new projects.
Emicool, a joint venture of Dubai Investments and Union Properties, presently has six plants that supply district cooling to various areas in Dubai. District cooling is the chilled water that is delivered to cool the air in buildings.
The doubling of capacity at Dubai Investments Park to 250,000 TR is part of the expansion plans.
Emicool said air-conditioning use in Dubai Investments Park increased 30 per cent in the first half of the year.
Omar Al Mesmar, the general manager of Dubai Investments Park, said the park’s expansion plans included six schools, a university, more than 4,500 companies, industrial units, as well as retail and commercial outlets.
“Dubai Investments Park’s proximity to both Al Maktoum International Airport and the Expo 2020 site is leading to increasing demand for quality hotel and serviced apartment projects to cater to the anticipated tourists flow,” he said.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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