“The repayments of loan facility installment, 9 months prior to its final maturity reflects the robustness and sustainability of our business model and our prudent financial strategy that is paying off significantly. Empower has done pre-payments of loan installments in the past as well on its bilateral and syndicated loan facilities”, said Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower.

“Empower continues to pursue the strategy to finance its projects through an optimal mix of debt and equity in order to maximize return to its shareholders. Empower boasts an open dialogue with banks, through which it ensures competitive financing for its expansion. The company strongly believes that cost effective and ever-growing funding requirement of the district cooling industry is based on these continuous dialogues between district cooling companies and local, regional and international banks,” noted Bin Shafar.

Empower has adopted a business model of investing in plants and network infrastructure based on actual demand in a particular project. This has ensured sustainable growth and consistent financial performance of the company.

As a result, Empower has always settled its obligations as per the timelines or ahead of scheduled timelines, which has been well acknowledged by banks who in turn value their funding to Empower.

Being a utility business with long term and stable cash flows, district cooling significantly reduces financing risks for banks and financial institutions. We have witnessed increased confidence of banks and financial institutions in financing UAE’s district cooling industry, notably Empower,” said Bin Shafar.

Bin Shafar also added that the growing confidence of banks in financing Empower’s district cooling projects stems from Dubai’s support for the growth of this industry, as the Emirate views district cooling as a key element of its energy strategy, and aims to considerably increase the penetration of district cooling services.

“We will continuously invest in the further developments of our infrastructure and network to cater to the rapidly increasing demand for district cooling in Dubai. We are delighted to settle these two installments ahead of the agreed timelines, and will continue to do as we see fit,” concluded Bin Shafar.

More than 1000 buildings are currently using Empower’s district cooling services, catering to more than 85,000 customers. Empower currently operates over 1.34 Million RT, providing environmentally responsible district cooling services to large-scale real estate developments, such as Jumeirah Group, Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai International Financial Centre, Business Bay, Dubai Healthcare City, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Palm Jumeirah, Discovery Gardens, Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai Design District and International Media Production Zone, among others.