The UAE company behind plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the Fujairah coast is planning to carry out its first test later this year, at a cost of up to $80 million.

The National Advisor Bureau Limited said in 2017 its ambitious plans could cause a significant climate change in the region as cold air gushing out from an iceberg close to the shores of the Arabian Sea would cause a trough and rainstorms all year round.

In an interview with Euronews’ Inspire Middle East TV show, the company’s managing director Abdulla Alshehi said the first preliminary test, where a smaller iceberg will be towed tug boat to Cape Town in South Africa or Perth in Australia for water harvesting, will happen later this year.

The test will cost around $60-80 million while the full project to tow an iceberg to the UAE will cost $100-150 million.

“It will be cheaper to bring in these icebergs and utilise them for freshwater rather than utilising the desalination water,” Alshehi was quoted as saying. “Because desalination plants require a huge amount of capital investments.”

Click here to watch the full interview with Abdulla Alshehi.