Palm eyes up China and India

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Palm Utilities was officially launched in Dubai last month.

The water and district cooling firm is also considering a move into the gas utility sector.

Palm Utilities intends to grow its business outside the UAE. The firm is in talks with potential partners for joint ventures in China, India, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Plans to move into the gas sector are also under consideration.

"We plan to extend our activities wherever there are opportunities," revealed Ahmed Butti, chairman of Palm Utilities.

Palm Utilities, a holding company for Palm Water and Palm District Cooling, was officially launched in Dubai last month. Speaking at the ceremony, Butti said:

"We are often requested to provide water and cooling, so it was common sense to put [Palm Water and Palm District Cooling] together; they complement each other, if we had gas we would have also included that too. Gas is in our plan, but we don't have the gas yet."

Combined under one umbrella, the two businesses will be able to share resources, including in metering and billing, and give a better service to end-users, he added.

Palm Water is involved in a number of projects in the emirate, including handling the water services for the Palm Jumeirah development in Dubai.

The firm has 64 000 m³ of reverse osmosis desalination capacity on the island and also operates two sewage treatment plants with a combined capacity of 35 000 m3, as well as a tertiary sewage effluent polishing plant for district cooling.

Palm District Cooling predicts it will have a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of refrigeration by 2010-2011, driven higher by population growth and the mega projects planned for the region. Palm Utilities is owned by state-run investment firm Istithmar, which forms part of the Dubai World group.

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