The G2COOL plant produces naturally occurring hot water found underground through two geothermal wells. The hot water is fed into absorbtion cooling technology to produce the chilled water needed by Tabreed for its district cooling activities. The chilled water derived from this source of clean energy accounts for 10% of Masdar City’s cooling needs.
The project is enabled by ADNOC’s initial $15 billion allocation towards low carbon solutions and will support its decarbonization plan and net zero by 2045 ambition.
Musabbeh Al Kaabi, ADNOC Executive Director for Low Carbon Solutions and International Growth, said, “This project is the latest in ADNOC’s strategy to develop and deploy technologies that will help our company and country to decarbonize. For the very first time, we have tapped into the abundance of clean underground thermal energy available here in the UAE.
"Early efficiency performance from the G2COOL plant has surpassed our expectations, proving that geothermal energy is a viable way to decarbonize the way we cool buildings, which is one of the most energy instensive activities in our region.”
The cooling of buildings accounts for up to 70% of the UAE’s electricity consumption. District cooling offers a sustainable alternative to traditional cooling methods as it is around 50% more energy efficient in its standard operations. Integrating geothermal energy within district cooling operations can significantly reduce electricity demand for cooling from the grid.
Khaled Al Qubaisi, Tabreed Chairman, said, “As our country welcomes the world for COP28, Tabreed is proud to announce such promising results from the Gulf region’s first geothermal energy project. Our partnership with ADNOC on geothermal shows what can be achieved through a shared commitment to progress.”
Ahmed Baghoum, CEO, Masdar City, said, “Cooling more sustainably is one of Masdar City’s greatest challenges. Producing the equivalent of 10% of our district cooling needs using geothermal energy is an enormous leap on our journey achieving net-zero. We are delighted to work with Tabreed and ADNOC on this project to create a more sustainable future together.”
