Dubai: The Dubai district cooling company Empower recorded its highest revenues ever – of Dh2.46 billion – in 2021, strengthened by a series of acquisitions and capacity increases. Profit for the year totaled Dh936 million, a gain of 4 per cent year-on-year.
Empower had a particularly strong second-half, helped quite a bit by three acquisitions that cost Dh2.04 billion.
In August, it bought Nakheel’s district cooling assets for Dh860 million, which brought to the Empower portfolio a cooling capacity of 110,000 refrigeration tons (RT). This was in addition to the earlier for Palm Utilities and Palm District Cooling for Dh1.83 billion.
The second was with Meydan City Corporation, for Dh100 million, with a cooling capacity of 382,000 RT to be served. These will serve emerging communities such as MBR City as well as the wider Meydan district. The final one was the buying of the district cooling systems serving Dubai International Airport for Dh1.1 billion.
The company provides district cooling services to more than 64 per cent of residential buildings and 15 per cent of commercial and office buildings in Dubai, including the recently added ‘Museum of the Future’ on Shaikh Zayed Road. The hospitality sector's share rose to 14 per cent, while the health sector accounted for 3 per cent.
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In all, 1,413 buildings are served by Empower, including the likes of Marsa Al Arab, One Za’abeel, The Residences Dorchester Collection, Uptown and Al Wasl 1. All of which resulted in a 17 per cent increase in district cooling consumption compared to 2020.
"The year 2021 was an important milestone in the history of Empower at all levels,” said Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO. “The achievements during the past year are unprecedented in quantity and quality. “In 2022 Empower will focus on significantly expanding the number of district cooling plants, and extending service transmission networks to cover all regions in Dubai."
79.5 %
Dubai's district cooling market shareThe Empower distribution network was expanded to more than 369.01 kilometers by the end of last year, representing an increase of 5.5 per cent compared to 2020.
“Empower has a clear vision and effective strategies for expansion,” said Bin Shafar. “We seek to add new production capabilities that contribute to reducing costs and enhancing energy efficiency through the use of the most advanced technologies that we have developed."
