Coming soon: Dubai's first biogas plant

Dubai Municipality will build a biogas plant at the Warsan Sewage Treatment Plant at a cost of around Dh250 million, which would help save Dh325 million through reduced electricity consumption at plant as well as reduce carbon emissions.
Dawoud Al Hajri, director-general of Dubai Municipality, said the project - the first of its kind in the emirate - will help reduce CO2 emissions at Warsan by 31,000 tonnes per year, which is equivalent to emissions from 7,000 homes in Dubai.
"This project is guided by the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which seeks to make Dubai the world's least carbon footprint city by 2050," he said, adding that the project will be developed as public-private partnership in conjunction with global water, energy and environment firm Veolia.
Fahad Al Awadhi, director of the Sewage Projects Department, said the commercial operation of the project will start at the beginning of 2021 for a period of 25 years.
"The project includes the construction of a plant with an annual production capacity of 45,000MW power, which is equivalent to 50 per cent of electrical power needs for the Warsan plant," he said, adding that the project will contribute to the reduction of waste from the Warsan plant by converting 58,000 cubic meters per day of biogas into electricity.
Sebastian Chauvin, CEO for the Middle East at Veolia, said the implementation is one step further to consolidate the city's 2021 strategic plan and globally a proof of commitment to diversify energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels and reach the ambitious target of sourcing 75 per cent of clean energy by 2050.
"Dubai Municipality aims to become self-sufficient in electrical power within their sewerage plants and this joint collaboration is a significant milestone to achieve this goal. Veolia will invest, build and operate the facility over the next 25 years," Chauvin said. - waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com