TATA Realty & Tabreed Partner for Cooling as a Service Transaction in India

Tabreed, a global cooling utility player, has announced signing of an agreement with TATA Realty, a real estate developer, to implement its first Cooling as a Service (CaaS) project in India. It is an alliance to develop a sustainable and efficient cooling infrastructure. This marks Tabreed’s first Cooling as a Service (CaaS) transaction in India .

This partnership entails an investment of approximately INR 100 Cr in TATA Realty’s Intellion Park in Gurugram over a period of time. Tabreed will acquire Intellion Park’s existing cooling infrastructure and undertake Greenfield expansion to increase cooling capacity.

Moving away from the regular market practice wherein real estate developers own and operate their cooling assets through facility management arrangements, through this first of its kind transaction, Tabreed will provide long-term, SLA-based cooling services to Intellion Park with well-defined parameters to improve energy efficiency, asset longevity, system reliability and reduce life cycle costs of cooling for tenants. It is expected that the transaction will result in Tabreed serving as a provider of cooling services for TATA Realty, offering district cooling or CaaS concessions across its commercial properties.

Sanjay Dutt, MD & CEO of Tata Realty said, “Tata Realty has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable real estate development in India. With numerous achievements, including the country’s first net-zero certified commercial real estate campus, the company has set a high bar for the rest of the industry. In continuation of this trend, Tata Realty’s engaged with Tabreed to launch the first Cooling as a Service (CaaS) project. Our endeavour is to enable the delivery of superior value to occupants, while promoting higher standards of ESG and wellness in commercial and mixed-use real estate developments.”

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Tabreed, expressed his enthusiasm for the engagement stating, “As the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest growing economies, India will be a key strategic market and important partner for Tabreed as we expand our international presence. We expect to see large-scale adoption of district cooling in India as demand for real estate and cooling grows at a rapid pace. Tabreed is delighted to partner with TATA Realty to develop leading innovative district cooling services which will support sustainable urban development across India. This will unlock value for our stakeholders, while benefitting communities and reducing carbon emissions.”

The India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) announced by the Ozone Cell of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change forecasted eight-fold increase in aggregated cooling demand for the country by 2037-38, with 45% of the country’s peak energy demand likely to be for cooling by 2050. In addition, ICAP identifies the immediate need for skill development of the country’s HVAC sector with at least 100,000 technicians to be trained in good servicing practices and the new alternative refrigerants as the cooling demand increases.

Sudheer Perla, Country Manager of Tabreed India, said, “Long-term, green financing delivered through innovative and bespoke business models such as CaaS will play a crucial role in scaling up the transition to a greener economy, especially for the built environment. Currently, developers are allocating huge sums of capital on HVAC systems for new buildings as well as highly-inefficient existing buildings to achieve their net zero goals, all whilst competing with and balancing other demands on their capex. Through demonstrating the value of CaaS at Intellion Park, we hope to pave the way for more rapid adoption of district cooling in India, easing the burden of upfront costs for developers to inspire more sustainable cooling solutions for the Indian real estate sector, which is set to witness fastest global increase in cooling-related energy demand in the coming decades.”

Tabreed provides essential and sustainable district cooling services to developments such as the Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World, Emirates Towers, Yas Island, Al Maryah Island, Dubai Mall, Dubai Opera, Dubai Metro, Bahrain Financial Harbor and the Jabal Omar Development in the Holy City of Makkah. The company owns and operates 86 plants in its portfolio across the GCC, including 75 in the United Arab Emirates, three in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, seven in Oman, one in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as others in the region.

 Tabreed Asia is a JV owned by Tabreed UAE (75%) and IFC (25%) with headquarters in Singapore. Set-up as a holding company, Tabreed Asia, through wholly owned subsidiaries in India, invests, builds, owns and operates cooling assets through long-term partnerships with leading real estate developers to provide more cost effective and sustainable, environmentally friendly cooling services.