- The project is an evolution of both companies’ waste gasification facility announced earlier in 2014
- Both entities plan to establish more waste-to-hydrogen plants across the region
- The project is part of Bee’ah’s renewable energy strategy following the 2021 completion of its waste-to-energy facility
SHARJAH, UAE — Building on its commitment to zero-waste cities and clean energy solutions, Bee’ah, the Middle East’s sustainability pioneer, today announced that it will be developing the region’s first waste-to-hydrogen project which includes a generation plant and a green hydrogen vehicle fuelling station in the UAE, in partnership with UK-based Chinook Sciences.
This project is an expansion of Bee’ah and Chinook Sciences’ waste gasification project that had been announced in 2014, leveraging similar pyrolysis and gasification technologies to produce green hydrogen instead of electricity. This waste-to-hydrogen project addresses increasing market demand in the region for new sources of renewable energy such as green hydrogen.
With an innovative approach of having the waste-to-hydrogen plant adjacent to the fuelling station, this project removes the challenges of costly transportation of hydrogen. The fuelling station will use green hydrogen generated from the waste-to-hydrogen plant from non-recyclable plastic waste and waste wood from Bee’ah’s Material Recovery Facility. The green hydrogen will be fed into the fuelling station to power Bee’ah’s future fleet of hydrogen waste collection vehicles, effectively closing the waste loop.
In addition, the cost of green hydrogen from the plant is competitive with or even less than the equivalent cost of diesel and gasoline. At maximum production capacity, the plant is capable of fuelling 1,000 hydrogen-powered large vehicles per day.
During a visit by Chinook Sciences Chairman and CEO Dr. Rifat Chalabi and his delegation to the Bee’ah Head Office, the two entities held the official signing ceremony for the project, with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2022. As part of Bee’ah and Chinook Sciences’ longstanding partnership, both entities will also establish more waste-to-hydrogen facilities across the region.
During the signing ceremony, HE Salim Bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of Bee’ah, said: “Green hydrogen will be a vital pillar of our future energy landscape and Bee’ah has been looking into this market for some time now with Chinook in alignment with our long-term strategy to develop new, sustainable energy solutions. As a sustainability leader, Bee’ah is keen to further support the UAE in its hydrogen economy ambitions, energy diversification and decarbonisation efforts.”
HE Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah, which is operational in the UAE, KSA and Egypt, said: “As a waste management leader in the Middle East, we are proud to bring another first for the region. This project showcases the potential of waste-to-hydrogen solutions and we intend to establish more of such projects across the region. Bee’ah has always recognised the value of energy recovery from waste and through this new project, we will be supporting a circular economy across multiple fronts including zero-emission fuel for our vehicles, increase waste diversion rates and diversify the UAE’s energy sources.”
Bee’ah is also establishing other renewable energy projects in the UAE through its joint venture with Masdar, Emirates Waste to Energy Company. This includes the UAE’s first 30-MW waste-to-energy facility in Sharjah, set for completion this year, and a 120-MW solar landfill project with its first phase due to complete by 2023. Bee’ah has also built an on-site solar farm at its new Headquarters, which is a net-zero energy building.
As a leading industrial, renewable fuel and environmental technology company, Chinook Sciences’ patented RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology will break down hydrocarbons from waste through advanced thermal treatment, to release and recover the hydrogen. The hydrogen released and recovered from waste wood will be categorised as green hydrogen, the hydrogen from non-recyclable plastic waste will support waste diversion from landfills. When the green hydrogen fuel is used in vehicles, it emits only water and no carbon emissions.
Dr. Rifat Chalabi, Chairman and CEO of Chinook Sciences said: “We are very excited to use our technology in the UAE and to further our existing relationship with Bee’ah in the environmental and energy-from-waste sectors. We see this project as the first in a long line of developments that will be co-developed with Bee’ah across the Middle East using our RODECS technology.”
Given that hydrogen-powered vehicles are more sustainable and have better mileage, Bee’ah is also currently in discussions with auto-manufacturers in the region to purchase hydrogen vehicles. The hydrogen infrastructure being built can also provide hydrogen for use in public transportation, powering hydrogen fuel cell buses.
The UAE has previously announced its aim to become a major hydrogen producer, and to reduce carbon emissions by 24 per cent by 2030. Plans include investment in green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy, like solar power as well as using carbon-capture technologies to create what is known as blue hydrogen.
About Bee’ah:
An innovation leader and a pioneering force for sustainable solutions in the Middle East, Bee’ah is a public-private partnership company that was founded in 2007. With ventures in industries ranging from Waste Management, to Environmental Consulting, Renewable Energy, Technology, Sustainable Transportation, and Training & Development, Bee’ah is creating a better quality of life for all cities and communities in the region. Bee’ah has executed a comprehensive strategy focused on sustainability and digitalisation, which has reaped rich benefits in the form of the region’s highest waste diversion rates, and the GCC’s first waste-to-energy plant. Bee’ah has supported the region’s agenda for a circular economy and personifies the UAE’s ambitions in leading the dialogue surrounding sustainability in the MENA region. For more information, please visit: http://www.beeah.ae and connect at facebook.com/beeahuae and twitter.com/BeeahUAE
About Chinook Sciences:
Chinook Sciences was founded in the 1990s and headquartered in Nottingham UK. Chinook is an industrial technology company focussed on supporting the environmental, renewable energy, industrial gas and metals recycling sectors. It has been developing and enhancing its RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology for over 23 years and has deployed this technology widely across the world and in numerous industrial and process sectors. Currently, Chinook is focused on the manufacture of green hydrogen from a range of waste materials and also on the manufacturing of high-quality activated carbon, itself used in a wide range of air and water purification and cleaning applications. Chinook offers a range of services including the engineering, design, construction and operation of end-stage recycling energy-from-waste, fuel-from-waste and waste-to-value plants globally.
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