Dubai Waste Management Company (DWMC) said it has secured project finance worth $900 million from major institutional lenders including Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) for a major waste-to-energy plant, located at the former Warsan landfill site in Dubai.

 

The other private global financial institutions involved in the funding are Société Générale Bank, KfW Ipex Bank, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Siemens Bank and Crédit Agricole Bank.

 

Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi) will provide the insurance for a part of the loan being provided by the financial institutions.

 

DWMC had been set up as a special purpose development vehicle by global infrastructure major Besix, Tech Group, Hitachi Zosen Inova, Itochu Corporation, Dubal Holding and Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group for this project.

 

The Dubai Centre for Waste Processing, located in the Warsan area, aims to treat 5,666 tonnes of municipal solid waste produced by Dubai per day. A total of 1.9 million tonnes of waste per year will be converted into renewable energy. 

 

A Dubai Municipality project, its size and capacity make this facility one of the largest in the world. Up to 200 MW of thermal energy recovered will be fed into the local grid.

 

The facility will have the capacity to process up to 45% of Dubai’s current municipal waste generation, in turn significantly minimising the volume of municipal waste in landfills.

 

In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it will contribute to reaching the goals set by Dubai Municipality in minimizing the volume of municipal waste in landfills and developing alternative energy sources as well as contribute to sustainable and ecologically friendly waste management in the emirate and the targets outlined in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050.

 

An international consortium led by Besix is responsible for the design, construction, finance and operation of this giant waste-to-energy facility. The project was designed in close collaboration between Dubai Municipality, Hitachi Zosen Inova and Besix.

 

 

Khalid Al Malik, Managing Director of Dubai Holding, said: "By partnering with a strong consortium of strategic and financial investors, we are delivering on our promise of continuously supporting the Emirate’s growth and diversification strategy. As a responsible business, we are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ensuring everything we do contributes to the Good of Tomorrow.”

 

On behalf of Dubai Municipality, Besix and Hitachi Zosen Inova will also be in charge of the operations and maintenance of the waste-to-energy plant for 35 years.

 

The agreement with Dubai Municipality includes the design and construction of the facilities, as well as financing and a 35-year operation and maintenance period on behalf of the municipality.

 

This strategic project marks an important contribution to Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 and Dubai Plan 2021 to making the emirate one of the most sustainable cities in the world, he added.

 

Acting CEO Ahmad Hamad Bin Fahad said: "For Dubai Holding, investment in green and sustainable projects is always close to our heart and we are very pleased to work with a broad spectrum of people working towards the realisation of one of the world’s largest single-site waste to energy projects in Dubai."

 

"As always, Dubai leads by example and is a trend setter and I’m confident the entire region will follow the footsteps of Dubai in implementing such a project that is good for generations to come," he stated.

 

Engineer Dawoud Al Hajri, the Director General of Dubai Municipality, said the work on the WTE project was progressing as per schedule. 

 

The strategic focus is to achieve environmental protection, reduce carbon emissions, divert waste from the landfills, and contribute towards the realization of Dubai's strategy to shift towards clean energy. Dubai Municipality is setting up an attractive environment for investors to support increased foreign direct investment, he stated.

 

Besix Group COO Pierre Sironval said: "We are involved in the project in three ways: the investment, construction and operations of the plant for 35 years."

 

"We have started construction and look forward to delivering and then operating, together with Hitachi Zosen Inova and in close collaboration with Dubai Municipality, this world-leading facility," he added.

 

Shinichi Aburaya, the COO of the Plant Project, Marine and Aerospace Division at Itochu Corporation, said: "We are proud to participate in this important project. Itochu, with its strong focus on ESG, SDGs and portfolio of similar projects, looks forward to this opportunity of contributing further towards SDGs by reducing environmental burden and expanding renewable energy resources.”

 

Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin, CEO, Hitachi Zosen Inova, said: “Energy-from-waste (EfW) technology is considered to be the safest and most efficient technology for sustainably processing municipal solid waste."

 

"We are proud that Dubai Municipality has chosen the technology from HZI, and that we can thus make an important contribution over the entire concession period to Dubai's sustainability strategy. The construction of this EfW plant is not only a novelty for Dubai, even for HZI, this project marks the entering into a new market and we are looking forward to further projects in the Middle East, leveraging the long-term history of the Hitachi Zosen group in the region,” he added.

 

Tech Group CEO Shiraz Hasan said: "We are excited to be part of this flagship EfW project – one of the world’s largest. This project is a testament to Dubai’s commitment towards a clean and sustainable future."

 

"With the expertise and value brought in by all partners, we expect this project to be a huge success,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service