Dubai:
District cooling firm Empower has repaid Dh83 million that was part of a syndicated loan issue from a consortium of banks, Empower announced yesterday. Emirates NBD being the facility agent,
This loan was used to build Empower’s plants and networks in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Business Bay, Mirdif, TECOM C and Al Quoz projects.
CEO Ahmad Bin Shafar told Gulf News: “Empower has no financial problems.”
“Empower’s total financing over the past eight years stood at Dh1.2 billion, and outstanding loans are estimated at Dh580 million.” he said. “Clearing our loans on schedule demonstrate the robustness and sustainability of Empower’s business model and effectiveness of its financial strategy.”
Bin Shafar remarked that Empower has adopted a business model that works on the strategy of investing in plants and network infrastructure driven by actual demand in specific projects. This has resulted in sustainable growth and avoided unproductive investments and financial losses.
“Empower’s operations grew remarkably in 2011 and 2012 due to higher demand. We also expanded our footprint and enhanced the infrastructure and network in real estate projects to cater to the needs of our rapidly-increasing client base,” he said.
“Empower achieved a remarkable increase of 12 per cent in its cooling capacity, with over 370,000 refrigeration tonnes in 2011.”
The company achieved 20 per cent increase in the number of customers in 2011, and around 40 buildings in the Business Bay area connected to the Empower network.
While Empower’s consumption rose 23.2 per cent in July 2012 comparing to the same period last year.
Empower provides district cooling services. which reduces energy consumption as compared to traditional airconditioning systems. District cooling services achieve economies of scale by using centralised plants instead of individual cooling units in each building. The centralised system results in reduced capital and operating costs, thus lowering air-conditioning set-up and energy costs per building.
