The Sharjah skyline. Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop the UAE’s first solar landfill project in Sharjah. Courtesy Asteco
The Sharjah skyline. Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop the UAE’s first solar landfill project in Sharjah. Courtesy Asteco
The Sharjah skyline. Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop the UAE’s first solar landfill project in Sharjah. Courtesy Asteco
The Sharjah skyline. Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop the UAE’s first solar landfill project in Sharjah. Courtesy Asteco

Energy

Masdar and Bee’ah joint venture to develop UAE’s first solar landfill project

The Sharjah project will be completed in different phases and will generate 120 megawatts of clean energy

Fareed Rahman
Fareed Rahman

January 21, 2021

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Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop the UAE’s first solar landfill project in Sharjah to boost the emirate’s renewable energy generation capacity.

In a solar landfill project, solar panels are installed on top of a landfill site to make optimum use of space while generating clean energy.

“Waste is a growing issue in the Gulf Cooperation Council region," Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive of Masdar, said on Thursday. "However, this project highlights how we can utilise closed landfills to deliver clean energy, while simultaneously supporting the UAE’s clean energy targets and UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

The project has a total capacity of 120 megawatts and will be constructed on top of Sharjah’s Al Sajah landfill, close to Bee’ah’s waste management complex, according to the statement. It will be completed in three phases, with the first phase due for completion in 2023.

“Bee’ah is looking to create new value from capped landfills while supporting the deployment of renewable energy in the UAE,” said Khaled Al Huraimel, group chief executive of Bee’ah and chairman of the Emirates Waste to Energy Company.

Emirates Waste to Energy Company will be responsible for the financing, design, procurement and construction of the project. It will also provide operation and maintenance services at the project for 25 years. The total investment in the project was not disclosed.

Established in 2017, Emirates Waste to Energy Company is also constructing a 30MW waste-to-energy facility in Sharjah, which is due to be completed later this year.

The UAE aims to increase the contribution of clean energy to its total energy mix from 25 per cent to 50 per cent by 2050. It is developing a number of renewable energy projects including the world's largest solar power plant in Abu Dhabi.

Separately on Thursday, Masdar signed an agreement with Etihad Credit Insurance, the UAE’s federal export credit company, to work on initiatives aimed at supporting investment in renewable projects.

As part of the deal, ECI and Masdar will explore establishing political and commercial risk insurance solutions to improve bankability and attract cheaper capital to Masdar’s renewable projects in the UAE and globally.

ECI will also support Masdar in its global expansion through “tailor-made credit insurance solutions in order to enhance its overall viability and competitiveness globally, as well as through extending its products and solutions to other companies registered at Masdar City”.

Masdar will also be collaborating with China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company to explore the development of renewable energy projects worldwide. The deal was signed virtually as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2021 on Thursday, according to a statement from Masdar.

Masdar is currently active in more than 30 countries with a total renewable energy capacity of 10.7 gigawatts.

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Who is Allegra Stratton?

 

  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
  • In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
  • The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
  • Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
  • She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
  • Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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The specs

Price, base / as tested Dh960,000
Engine 3.9L twin-turbo V8 
Transmission Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Power 661hp @8,000rpm
Torque 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.4L / 100k

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