Infrastructure work at Dubai's Palm Jumeirah has begun following the completion of the reclamation work.

A large part of the infrastructure work has been awarded to Al Naboodah Engineering, and the contract to construct two bridges connecting the crescents has been awarded to Archirodon Construction, Sayed Ahmad Sayed, Nakheel's managing director of projects for engineering, said.
The land reclamation and dredging works for The Palm, Jumeirah, which was completed ahead of schedule, was carried out by Van Oord ACZ Marine Contractors Gulf FZE, Dubai.
The China Railway and Engineering Corporation is responsible for reclamation and dredging works on The Palm, Jebel Ali, where more than 10 per cent of the reclamation is complete.

Nakheel, the holding company for projects such as The Palm and The World, has now set up a joint venture with Dubai-based Gulf District Cooling to set up a new entity, offering district-cooling services in the UAE.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting convened to announce the launch of Palm District Cooling's district cooling project for Palm Jumeirah, Sayed said the project will be built at a cost of Dh700 million ($190.7 million).
The new district cooling company was set up recently as a 50:50 joint venture between Gulf District Cooling and Nakheel Real Estate.
The district cooling systems at The Palm Jumeirah will comprise a central cooling unit to feed this man-made island. The central cooling work will be executed in four phases and it will have an estimated capacity of 140,000 tonnes.

The promoters of Palm District Cooling (PDC) expect to develop an asset base of Dh2 billion ($545 million) in district cooling tonnage over the medium term.
Currently, the overall installed capacity for district cooling in the UAE is estimated at over 200,000 tonnes, and this could double in the next four to six years in view of the number of mega real estate projects coming onto the market.
As a concept, district cooling has only caught on in the last three or four years, both on the residential and commercial side. PDC's operations will not be confined to Nakheel projects alone ' plans are to pitch for tenders across the UAE.

Conservative estimates suggest district cooling saves up to 30 per cent by way of utility charges, according to PDC.
As for financing, plans are to raise 80 per cent of a project's cost from financial institutions and the remaining from internal resources in the initial phases.
The venture will have its first project on The Palm, Jumeirah. The scope of the joint venture's services could be expanded at a later date.