Triple cooling plants for Saadiyat Island

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan (C) looks at the project model for Saadiyat Island. (Getty Images)

A public partnership concession to provide district cooling on Saadiyat Island has been awarded to a joint venture partnership between Dalkia and Arcapita by Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development and Investment Company.

Incorporating three plants, the project will be one of the largest district cooling operations in the Middle East, providing a combined capacity of 50,000 tonnes of refrigeration and servicing an area of 27 sq km.

The partnership, which consists of European energy services provider Dalkia and investment bank Arcapita, will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the plants during a 29-year concession to cool hotels in the Saadiyat Beach District.

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This will include the St Regis Saadiyat Island Resort and the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas, which are both due to open later this year.
Of the three planned cooling plants, two will be completed by 2012 with the third planned for construction by 2016 as further projects come online.

“TDIC’s objective in the cooling element of Saadiyat’s infrastructure was to develop a strategy that will provide cost-effective, efficient cooling services across the 1.6 million sq m built-up area, while managing the issues of water conservation and environmental output,” said Andrew Seymour, TDIC’s director of infrastructure. “Dalkia and Arcapita’s expertise in district cooling made them the most appropriate fit for Saadiyat’s cooling needs.”