The construction of the first Waste-to-Energy facility is completed in Sharjah, UAE. The project, Emirates Waste to Energy Company, is a joint venture between Masdar and Bee’ah, the Middle East’s leading, award-winning environmental management company.
With the signing of the Joint Development Agreement at ADSW 2017, Bee’ah and Masdar officially declared their relationship. The project has entered the testing and commissioning phase. The facility will convert non-recyclable waste into renewable energy, bringing the existing landfill diversion rate from 76% to 100%, according to WAM.
The facility, which is 80,000 sqm in size, was built by CNIM, a French industrial contractor. It also adheres to EU Best Available Techniques in order to meet the world’s highest environmental standards. The 30 MW garbage-processing plant will save the equivalent of 45 million cubic meters of natural gas while displacing about 450,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Every year, Bee’ah collects around 2.3 million tons of garbage from nearly one million Sharjah residences. This will contribute to the UAE’s objective of diverting 75 percent of solid waste from landfills by diverting more than 300,000 tons of solid municipal garbage per year.
The waste-to-energy plant will incinerate more than 37.5 tons of municipal solid trash per hour to create electricity. It has been built next to Bee’ah’s current Material Recovery Facility in Sharjah, which collects, sorts, recycles, and sends waste to landfills when necessary.
According to a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) inked in May 2017, the plant’s electricity would be delivered to Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (SEWA). The net electrical power generated will be around 29 MW, which will be fed into the Sharjah grid. Before being released into the atmosphere, the waste incineration flue gas will be treated.
According to reports, Bee’ah and Masdar are already looking into the possibility of the Emirates Waste to Energy company opening similar plants across the UAE and other parts of the Middle East region.
