UAE’s Ministry of Defence Strengthens its Environmental Credentials with Tabreed and Emerge

 The UAE Ministry of Defence, in partnership with Tabreed, the world’s leading district cooling company, and Emerge, a joint venture between the UAE’s Masdar, a global clean energy leader, and France’s EDF Group, announced today the completion of a new project to integrate solar energy into two district cooling plants serving the Ministry’s facilities in Abu Dhabi.

In March 2024, a partnership agreement was signed to develop solar PV plants to be operated for a period of 25 years. Approximately 4,000 solar panels have been installed at the district cooling plants, supplying their thermal energy storage infrastructure and chilled water pumps with 2.4 megawatt (MW) of clean electricity. This will help reduce reliance on the electricity grid during peak periods and prevent emissions of more than 2,600 tons of CO2 annually.

The project was officially inaugurated by a senior delegation from the Ministry of Defence, Tabreed and Emerge. This initiative follows the unveiling of the UAE Armed Forces Climate Change Strategy in December 2023, announced by the UAE Ministry of Defence to reinforce its commitment to reducing carbon emissions through a long-term energy transition. 

Tabreed’s CEO, Khalid Al Marzooqi, explained that this achievement further strengthens the already close strategic relationship between the company and the Ministry of Defence, which began with the commissioning of its first district cooling plant in 1998. He added, “Sustainability is a core concept at Tabreed, and we continually analyse and improve our operations in line with global aspirations to achieve climate neutrality. Recently Tabreed made a significant leap in diversifying its energy mix by introducing geothermal energy, and today we are proud to introduce another renewable: solar. These achievements underscore Tabreed’s commitment to the UAE’s net-zero goals and we will continue to integrate renewable energy at additional plants, to further our support of the public and private sectors in achieving their own environmental targets.”

Michel Abi Saab, General Manager of Emerge

, said: “This milestone reflects the growing momentum for distributed solar solutions across vital sectors of the UAE. We are proud to support the Ministry of Defence and Tabreed in advancing their sustainability goals by integrating clean energy into core infrastructure. At Emerge, we remain committed to enabling partners across the region to decarbonise their operations, reduce energy costs and drive measurable impact towards the UAE’s net-zero ambitions.”