Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced it has extended its partnership with Tabreed to supply technology and lifecycle support services to its Command and Dispatch Center for a large district cooling application in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The collaboration will help Tabreed meet its sustainability targets and make the company more competitive in the market.

Tabreed has been a pioneer in district cooling in the UAE and across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), partnering on significant projects that have been critical in infrastructure development and have set the benchmark for the industry. District cooling is highly efficient and cost-effective, providing cost savings from building operations and maintenance to reduced energy consumption while efficiently delivering on cooling requirements. With a longer lifecycle and long-term service contracts, district cooling offers economies of scale for customers, while delivering a cleaner, greener solution.

Tabreed is committed to achieving efficiency and sustainable growth through digital transformation and the integration of AI-based operations. To this end, the company has embarked on a project to deliver industry-leading solutions, beginning with maximizing existing plant operations. This contract for a central Command and Dispatch Center integrates five district cooling plants into a central control room located in Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Once this project is successfully completed, Tabreed intends to integrate more than 50 of its other plants in UAE into this control room, setting up infrastructure to bring its Connected Enterprise to life.

The project requires the enhancing of control system assets, using various solutions from Rockwell Automation’s comprehensive technology and service offerings, such as integrated industrial data center architecture, software and SCADA applications, as well as a range of solutions for network performance, security, and hardening. Plant-side enhancements also form part of the contract and include a new SIL-3 ESD system (in collaboration with Sensia), the migration/upgrades of existing control systems, field instrumentation, installation, testing and commissioning.

According to Sebastien Grau, regional VP for Rockwell Automation in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa: “The district cooling industry is vital for the Middle East and its growth, and we are honored to be working with Tabreed to support the company’s Connected Enterprise journey, which not only improves their operations but also reflects our shared focus on sustainability. This partnership builds on our 24 year-long relationship, supporting Tabreed to improve efficiency and cost savings resulting from the project, as well as to make a positive impact on the environment through the reduction of carbon emissions.”

Tabreed is investing in converging its IT and OT infrastructure as part of its digital transformation and big-data strategy, and is capitalizing on data generated over decades of operating district cooling plants and networks. Thanks to state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and the vast amounts of data readily available, Tabreed can achieve what is considered a breakthrough in district cooling by setting up a fully autonomous operation, making it even more competitive in the market.

Atef Al Breiki, senior vice president of operations and maintenance at Tabreed, explains: “We own and operate more than 86 plants across the GCC and Egypt. To maintain business continuity, maximize efficiency and ensure absolute reliability, we have embarked on an initiative to centralize the operation of our plants with the aid of technology. This means district cooling plants will be operated remotely (controlling and monitoring) from a central control room and use intelligent monitoring to manage the assets from this central location.”

With cooling demand in the GCC expected to nearly triple by 2030, district cooling is becoming the preferred choice. It offers reliable solutions, reduces energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and helps meet sustainability targets. District cooling is also becoming an integral part of the smart energy networks that are powering the growth of sustainable smart cities in the region and worldwide.

Rockwell Automation is working with Tabreed to secure its OT platform and align it with cybersecurity best practices.