UAE-based international district cooling developer, National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) has formed a new strategic partnership with World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) to target the growing Indian cooling market.
The partnership will include ownership of Tabreed India, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tabreed, being transferred to a new Singapore-based holding company to be jointly owned by Tabreed (75 percent) and IFC (25 percent).
The holding company will be established with $100 million in initial equity agreements from the partners and a mandate to invest in projects worth up to $400 million over the next five years, with a portfolio of about 100,000 refrigeration tons (RT) servicing industrial, commercial, and retail developments across India.
IFC and Tabreed have agreed with investment eligibility standards which include robust environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) requirements for projects in these geographies. Public environment and sustainability (E&S) disclosures will be made by IFC prior to investing in each project.
Khalid Al Marzooqi CEO- Tabreed
“This is a positive and timely development for Tabreed. It makes perfect sense for us to join forces with IFC as we are able to lean on each other’s unrivaled expertise. India is strategically very important for us, with demand for energy growing faster there than anywhere else in the world right now. We are eagerly looking forward to making a meaningful contribution to its prosperity while ensuring the sustainability we know is vital to all our futures.”
Tabreed identified India and Egypt as big overseas markets suitable for expansion. India was chosen because of the country’s low per capita cooling consumption and a rapidly growing cooling market across all sectors. There have been a number of promising policies in India, including a Cooling Action Plan to facilitate sustainable growth in cooling demand for the nation, with district cooling being identified as a key intervention area.
“As temperatures are rising, access to cooling is a major development challenge, especially in emerging economies located in the tropical climate zone. This district cooling project is at the heart of what IFC is all about,” said Mr. Makhtar Diop, IFC’s Managing Director.
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