DUBAI: Dubai’s Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation awarded construction contracts worth $380 million in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 23 percent.

Empower, which is the world’s largest district cooling services provider, said the contracts covered work such as energy transmission stations, thermal energy storage (TES) systems, procurement of pre-insulated pipes and metres, implementation of artificial intelligence, billing system expansion, capacity enhancement of data storage and other relevant businesses like consultation services, designing and many others.

In a report by WAM, the UAE state news agency, Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower, was quoted as saying: “In the light of the ambitious plans and strategies the company has adopted to comply with the overall national strategies aiming at the transformation to green economy. Empower holds 76 percent of the district cooling market in the Dubai city and we witness an increasing and rapid growth in demand for district cooling services according to the increase in the number and quality of the new buildings and projects. This impulse to expand the geographical area where the company’s plants and networks exist.”

Earlier this month, Empower announced plans to increase the percentage of renewable and clean energy in the Dubai’s energy mix. It also announced a reduction in the fuel surcharge on electricity and water, which will benefit more than 140,000 customers in Dubai.

Dubai is aiming to be the city with the smallest carbon footprint in the world. Under the UAE Energy Strategy 2050 the country is seeking to increase the share of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50 percent.