The UAE and India partner up on district cooling: The UAE’s National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) has signed an agreement with the regional government of India’s Telangana state to explore investments in the district cooling sector of Hyderabad, Wam reported on Friday. Tabreed — which partnered with the IFC on a USD 400 mn, five-year expansion into India back in 2021 — is looking to set up infrastructure to reduce 200 MW of electricity demand in the Indian city. The project also aims to push down carbon emissions from the city’s cooling sector by 600k tons annually and ultimately 18 mn tons over the project’s expected 30-year lifecycle, the news agency notes. Cooling and air conditioning systems, which utilize refrigerants that end up in the atmosphere, contribute over 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with estimates indicating that emissions will double by 2050, according to forecasts by the United Nations Environment Programme. Telangana has set a target to become carbon-neutral by 2047.

Not Tabreed’s first Indian venture: Tabreed secured its first district cooling transaction in India in May under an agreement with Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL). The agreement with the real estate and infrastructure development arm of Indian conglomerate Tata Sons includes a AED 44.34 mn investment in TRIL’s Intellion Park special economic zone development in Gurugram. Tabreed officially kicked off operations in the country last month, and was also named the preferred bidder for a long-term district cooling concession for the Hyderabad Pharma City in Telangana. Its AED 36.2 mn Telangana project will initially supply 2.5k refrigeration tons (RT), with plans to later up capacity depending on cooling demand to up to 125k RT.

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EDB joins renewables bandwagon: The Emirates Development Bank (EDB) will offer a new first-of-its-kind Solar Energy Finance Programme to back MSMEs through a AED 100 mn allocation for the adoption of solar energy initiatives, Wam reported on Thursday. The new program aims to support a clean energy source transition and overcome cost obstacles related to the shift. It offers medium and long-term loans and working capital of up to AED 5 mn with a focus on solar energy projects. The new programme comes under the EDB’s offerings of up to eight years-long tenor loans for structured finance projects and solar panels with grace periods of up to six months.

All under an ambitious plan: The new programme comes under EDB’s mandate to approve AED 30 bn in financing support for 13.5k companies within five priority sectors — renewables, food security, manufacturing, technology and healthcare — by 2026.

OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-

• Egypt’s new green hydrogen council gets green light: Egypt’s Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has issued a decision to set up the council for green hydrogen that was approved by the cabinet late last month. (Official Gazette)
• Oman is courting KSA for green hydrogen investments: A delegation from Oman’s state-owned hydrogen company Hydrom landed in Riyadh last week to promote the country’s green fuel sector and facilitate Saudi investments in the hydrogen market. (Statement)
• ADX officially lists Taqa’s USD 1.5 bn bonds on its main market: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) listed the USD 1.5 bn dual-tranche bond issuance by the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) on its main stock exchange on Thursday. The issuance comprises a USD 1 bn, 10-year green note with a 4.696% coupon as well as five-year, USD 500 mn conventional bonds priced at a 4.375% coupon. The green tranches will mature in 2033, while the conventional bonds have a 2029 maturity date . (Statement)
• The UAE is teaming up with Kazakhstan on clean energy infrastructure: The UAE’s Energy and Industry Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei met with the Governor of the Astana Financial Center Renat Bekturov to explore upscaling bilateral investments in sustainable energy production and transport. (Statement)