Sharjah inaugurates UAE's first waste-to-energy plant

The UAE's first commercial-scale waste-to-energy plant has been put into operation in Sharjah, enabling the city to raise its waste diversion rate to 100% from 76%.

The plant was officially opened by the ruler of Sharjah Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi.

The Sharjah Waste to Energy plant will divert up to 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste away from landfills every year, and generate 30 MW of energy. This will be enough to supply up to 28,000 homes in Sharjah.

The facility will also offset nearly 450,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and help save 45 million cubic metres of natural gas per year.

The waste processed at the plant is taken from the nearby waste management complex.

The Sharjah Waste to Energy plant is a project implemented by the Emirates Waste to Energy Company (EWTE), the UAE’s first waste-to-energy development company. It is a joint venture between BEEAH Energy, the renewable energy business of BEEAH Group, and renewables developer Masdar.

"The Sharjah Waste to Energy plant will not only support the UAE’s net-zero emissions objective, it also addresses the vital issue of waste management – a major problem for many cities in the GCC," said Masdar's chief executive Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.

The initiative is meant to be the first of many such projects that EWTE plans to implement.

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