120,000 Dubai homes to be powered per year by electricity produced from waste

The project called Waste to Energy (WTE), will treat 1.82 million tons of solid waste annually.

Tens of thousands of homes across Dubai will be powered by clean energy converted from waste, all thanks to the world's largest waste-to-energy facility that is being launched by the Dubai Municipality. 
The new project, worth Dh2.5billion, is called Waste to Energy (WTE) and will be located at Warsan. It will treat 1.82 million tonnes of solid waste annually, with a total net capacity of 171MW of electricity - energy that is capable of powering 120,000 homes per year (equivalent to 2,000 skyscrapers equal in proportion to Burj Khalifa). 
Dubai produces 8,000 tonnes of domestic waste every day and 5,000 of it will be converted to clean energy through this project, Hussain Nasser Lootah, the director-general of Dubai Municipality, told Khaleej Times.

"We are aiming, that by 2025, there is no landfill. Each waste will be treated and will benefit us," he said. "The energy that will be produced through this facility will be transferred to the main grid of the city and it will be directed to any random home. This is a very important project and it will help Dubai become a zero-landfill city. Any kind of waste that is produced can be used to benefit us and that it what we are aiming to do."
The project has been launched to promote sustainability of natural resources, to achieve Dubai Municipality's goals, environmental pillars and divert 100 percent of waste from landfills by 2025.  
The efforts of this landmark project is also in line with achieving the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy of providing 75 per cent of Dubai's total power output from clean energy sources by 2050. 
The waste-to-energy plant will be designed to treat the city's solid waste, as well as industrial and commercial waste. The facility will also simultaneously recover energy and treat the gases generated as a result of incineration. The grate transports the waste through the combustion chamber, therefore, the waste is also mixed and burned out completely.
"It's a very important project because it will add a new source of energy - solid waste to energy. This will help diversification of sources of energy in Dubai. We have gas, hydro, PV panels and we have clean coal. This is very sustainable project. It will reduce landfill. It will also support security of supply," HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the CEO and managing director of the Dubai Water and Electricity Authority, said.  
The construction of the waste-to-energy plant will begin this year and it will officially open before Expo 2020. 
Besides this landmark project, Dubai is also home to the largest single-site solar park in the world, which will be able to power 50,000 residences through PV solar panels and reduce 214,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. 
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai