A consortium of the local National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) and the local Mubadala Infrastructure Partners has acquired a 30-year concession to provide district cooling services for the southern part of Abu Dhabi’s Al-Maryah Island.

The consortium has acquired the concession through buying the existing district cooling provider to the island, Al-Wajeez Development Company, in a deal worth an estimated AED1.1bn ($299m). The transaction will be funded through a combination of a 20-year long term non-recourse loan from First Gulf Bank.

The 30-year concession will involve supplying an installed capacity of up to 80,000 refrigerated tonnes (RT) for the island, which is located between the main Abu Dhabi Island and Reem Island. The first phase of development of the island will include 450,000 square metres of office, retail and hotel developments.

The acquisition of the Al-Maryah plant brings the total number of plants owned and operated in the GCC to 67, and will boost its total connected capacity to more than 900,000 RT.