Belgian construction group Besix said its consortium with Switzerland-based Hitachi Zosen Inova has been awarded a contract to build one of the world's largest thermal waste recycling plants in Dubai, UAE, at an investment of €700 million ($869 million).

This ambitious project is a major step in Besix Group's diversification strategy, positioning it as a partner of choice in achieving the UAE's environmental protection and sustainable development goals.

As per the deal awarded by Dubai Municipality, Besix will be responsible for the design and for the execution of the infrastructure works, civil engineering and construction, as well as for the water treatment.

The Belgian group will be working for the first time with Hitachi Zosen Inova, one of the world leaders in thermal waste recovery with over 80 years of experience in the sector. The municipality has also granted the consortium the 30-year contract to operate and maintain the plant.

Besix said this plant will be one of the largest resource recovery facilities in the world. At full capacity, it will convert 5,000 tonnes of solid waste per day into energy, producing 171 MW of electricity per hour, powering around 120,000 homes in the region.

This plant represents a major step forward in environmental protection, with recovery by heat treatment (incineration, co-incineration, pyrolysis and gasification) making it possible to transform waste that cannot be recycled or recovered otherwise into a source of renewable energy, it stated.

Over the next six months, the Besix/Hitachi Zosen Inova consortium and its consultants will finalise the design of the project, said the statement.

The construction work will start by mid-2018, with partial delivery planned for the World Expo in 2020, and with the plant reaching its final capacity in 2021, it added.

Besix Group CEO Rik Vandenberghe said: "As a multi-service group operating in the construction and concession sectors in UAE since many decades, and true to our raison d'être of excelling in creating sustainable solutions for a better world, we are enthusiastic participants in this project that will bring real added value to the Dubai community and improve the quality of life of citizens and their environment."

"This first and very significant waste to energy contract is an important milestone in Besix's ambition to develop new activities," he stated.

The construction of this power plant reflects the municipality's objectives of reducing the tipping of municipal waste in favour of developing alternative energy sources, in line with the region's environmental protection and sustainable development ambitions.

Following on the Jebel Ali water treatment plant (Dubai), the Hamriyah power and desalination plant (Sharjah) and the Safi water reuse station (Ajman), this project enables Besix Group to make a new major contribution to the sustainable landscape of the UAE.

Pierre Sironval, the general manager (Business Unit) Middle East: "This contract is a testimony of the decades-long relationship of trust between the Dubai Municipality and Besix Group, particularly in public-private partnerships, a configuration in which we as experts can contribute considerable added value."

"In addition, with this project, we are further expanding our activities before and after the construction works, which perfectly matches our diversification strategy," he added.-TradeArabia News Service