The Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility, the first project from the Emirates Waste to Energy Company (EWTE), a joint venture between Bee’ah, the sustainability pioneer in the Middle East, and Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, has been recognised as the winner in the Clean Energy Initiative of the Year category at the Middle East Energy Awards.

Hosted by ITP Media Group, the newly rebranded awards, held in Dubai on 18th September this year, included alternative and renewable energy, allowing it to recognise excellence across the entire energy industry. The categories celebrated energy projects, initiatives, individuals and companies that have changed the way energy is used in the Middle East.

The Clean Energy Initiative of the Year award recognised a strategic approach to lowering a company’s carbon footprint through the use of alternative energy. The inclusion of the Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility is a recognition of the work that the EWTE is doing in this field, specifically, its work in building the UAE’s first waste-to-energy plant. Upon completion in 2021, the 30 MW facility will process more than 37.5 tonnes of municipal solid waste, MSW, per hour to generate electricity sustainably, and divert more than 300,000 tonnes of MSW away from landfills every year. It will also displace almost 450,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and save 45 million m3 of natural gas per year.

Operating at full capacity, the facility will contribute significantly to reaching the UAE’s target of diverting 75 percent of its solid waste from landfills by 2021 and will help support the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to increase the contribution of clean energy in the total energy mix from 25 percent to 50 percent by 2050 and reduce carbon footprint of power generation by 70 percent. It will also help meet the Vision 2021 target of meeting 27 percent of the energy requirements from clean sources.

Speaking on the recognition for the Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility, Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah, said, "The Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility is a case study for how leading regional companies can join forces to collaborate on environment-friendly initiatives. The WTE plant will help take us beyond the 76 percent waste diversion rate that Bee’ah has achieved in Sharjah, and keep us on track to make Sharjah the first zero-waste city in the region by 2021."

"The Sharjah Waste to Energy Facility will achieve lasting benefits for the UAE community by diverting a significant volume of municipal waste from landfill each year, and by producing electricity whose impact on the climate is far less than that produced from fossil fuels. We look forward to bringing the UAE’s first waste-to-energy plant successfully on stream in 2021 – hopefully, the first of many such projects in the Middle East," said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer of Masdar.