Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company Masdar and leading environmental management company Bee’ah said they have secured financing commitments for their flagship multi-fuel waste-to-energy (WTE) project to be set up in Sharjah.

The duo also announced the finalisation of the design, build and operate (DBO) agreement for the project with Constructions Industrielles de la Méditerranée (CNIM), a French engineering company which specialises in the waste-to-energy sector.

A first-of-its-kind project in the UAE, the WTE will have capacity to treat 300,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste each year and power capacity of 30MW on completion.

The eco-friendly project has secured financing commitments from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), Siemens Financial Services, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC).

Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi and Bee’ah Group CEO Khaled Al Huraimel have signed the agreement with Khalifa Al Qubaisi, the deputy director general of ADFD; Mazen Zo’mot, the head of wholesale banking (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain), ADCB; Roland Chalons-Browne, the chief executive at Siemens Financial Services and Masatoshi Takesako, the regional head for Middle East at SMBC.

Today’s signing ceremony took place during the Waste Management Solutions Forum at the EcoWaste Exhibition, a leading international platform for advancing sustainable waste management and recycling, and a key component of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

The waste supply agreement (WSA) and power purchasing agreement (PPA) for the plant were signed with Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) last year in the presence of Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment.

On the deal, Al Ramahi said: "Viewing waste as a material resource that can be harnessed for power is the type of innovative thinking needed to deliver on the UAE’s sustainability agenda. Today’s signing of financial documents is a key step in the realisation of the the country’s first waste-to-energy plant and paves the way for the commercialisation of other waste-to-energy projects."

The Sharjah multi-fuel waste-to-energy facility is due for completion by 2020, helping to achieve the UAE’s aim of diverting 75 per cent of its municipal solid waste from landfill by 2021 and Sharjah’s 2020 zero-waste-to-landfill target.

Al Huraimel pointed out that deriving energy from waste will pave a new path towards the UAE’s ambition of a sustainable future, by supplying the nation with clean energy and achieving the target of zero waste diversion in Sharjah.

"The new waste-to-energy facility is an iconic project as it is the first of its kind in the UAE. Through our contract with CNIM, we will be able to utilise the expertise of an industry leader in exploring the full potential of this facility, and in setting an example that can be replicated across other projects by the Emirates Waste to Energy Company," he added.

Within its first phase, the plant will treat more than 300,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) each year, or 37.5 tonnes of solid waste per hour. It will also have the capacity to generate approximately 30 megawatts (MW) of energy.

The new plant has also been designed to meet the strictest environmental standards, complying with the European Union’s Best Available Techniques, widely recognised as the global standard. -TradeArabia News Service