UAE National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) along with the Egyptian Company for Energy and Cooling projects (Gascool) and Marakez, an Egyptian real estate investment company, have signed a partnership agreement to provide district cooling services to the new D5M mall in New Katameya, east Cairo.
This partnership marks Tabreed’s first foray into the Egyptian market. Construction of D5M is currently nearing completion and it forms an integral part of the wider ‘District Five’ project by the developer, MARAKEZ, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Al Hokair Group (FAH), one of the leading retail developers in the MENA region.
The mall will open this year, with full operations expected by the end of 2023. Tabreed is the consortium’s major partner, having a 60 percent equity position, while Gascool holds the remaining 40 percent. The district cooling plant will be built in phases. Its ultimate operational capacity will be 6,000 refrigeration tons (RT) contracted under a long-term agreement, with a total installed capacity of 7,500 RT.
Khalid Al Marzooqi CEO- Tabreed
“This is a very important, strategic step for our company, our entry into the Egyptian market being a solid part of our long-term plans for sustainable growth beyond the GCC. Tabreed’s unrivaled expertise in the district cooling industry will benefit Egypt in various ways and the Gascool JV is a perfect fit for Tabreed, having a proven track record for operational excellence, sharing our values and a relentless pursuit of energy efficiency. Our business partner and shareholder, ENGIE, also has a presence in Egypt, an experience that Tabreed will be able to benefit from over the coming years.”
The 70,000 square meter D5M also includes a residential complex with 1,800 state-of-the-art townhouses and apartments as well as offices. It is the latest project by MARAKEZ, which currently operates a network of 17 shopping malls, managing over 1.6 million square meters of prime retail real estate, including the flagship Mall of Arabia.
