Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), a unit of Dubai Land Department (DLD), has signed a memorandum of cooperation with Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad Esco), in bid to achieve a number of common and related goals - most prominently reducing the total service charge for unit owners in freehold properties - in addition to the long-term benefit for a period not exceeding 99 years, and enhancing transparency in customer service for the cooling services billing system.

 

The MoC with Etihad Esco would help achieve a qualitative leap in the field of energy efficiency and other relevant fields, remarked Marwan bin Ghalita, the CEO of Rera, after signing the deal with Waleed Salman, Executive VP of Business Development and Excellence at Dewa, and Vice Chairman of Etihad Esco. 

 

The MoC also included co-operation in paying the cooling services on time; invoicing the energy bills (electricity and air conditioning) for the units and areas of shared spaces in the projects within the real estate invoices issued by Dewa; installing, maintaining and reading energy meters through Etihad Esco and making payments directly to Dewa; and exploring the possibility of implementing energy efficiency solutions in the building that could help reduce energy costs.

 

"We will work together to achieve it in the best way. We will work to continuously develop partnerships that would contribute to strengthening the infrastructure of the real estate sector in its various fields and trends," he stated.

 

Salman said Etihad Esco looked forward to this partnership with Rera to achieve the specified results and goals. "Under this deal, Etihad Esco was committed to conducting a feasibility study, coordinating field visits, establishing and proposing an invoice form, and developing a project financing model."

 

Mohammed Khalifa bin Hammad, Senior Director at Rera, said: "We are committed to providing 10 buildings to implement the pilot project, with all the necessary data for the buildings included in the pilot project that Etihad Esco may request."

 

"This is in addition to providing the necessary support and coordination with all relevant parties, including central cooling service providers, and jointly owned properties to perform services related to the MoC, in addition to organising the framework by issuing a policy that regulates the work that enforces and approves the business model and obligates all concerned parties," he added.-TradeArabia News Service