Advisers selected for Abu Dhabi waste-to-energy projects

The waste-to-energy plants, which will have the combined capacity to process 1.5 million tonnes of waste a year and generate up to 150MW of electricity, will be developed under the independent power producer (IPP) model.

The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), Emirates Water and Electricity Company (Ewec) and the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) have selected advisers for for two planned waste-to-energy (WTE) projects in the UAE emirate.

According to sources close to the project, Denmark’s Ramboll has been selected as technical adviser, UK law firm Ashurst as legal adviser and the local Tribe has been appointed as financial adviser for the two WTE projects.

The waste-to-energy plants, which will have the combined capacity to process 1.5 million tonnes of waste a year and generate up to 150MW of electricity, will be developed under the independent power producer (IPP) model.

Consultancy firms submitted proposals for the financial, technical and legal advisory roles on planned WTE plants in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain on 27 May.

Energy & Utilities reported in April that Taqa (formerly AD Power before the integration with Taqa) and Ewec had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) to facilitate the development of the two WTE facilities.

The first plant will have a processing capacity of up to 900,000 tonnes of waste a year and generate up to 90MW of electricity, making it one of the largest WTE plants in the Middle East. The plant is expected to be located in the Industrial City area in the Mussafah region of Abu Dhabi.

The Al-Ain plant is scheduled to have a processing capacity of up to 600,000 tonnes of waste a year and generate up to 60MW of electricity.

The plants will be developed through the independent power producer (IPP) model, with private developers providing capital financing to deliver the project, with Emirates Water & Electricity Company (Ewec) the offtaker for produced power.