UAE – Mubasher: Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, on Wednesday announced its first investment in Australia after it has acquired a 40% stake in the country’s second utility-scale waste-to-energy (WTE) facility.
Under the terms of the investment, Masdar and Tribe Infrastructure Group signed a joint venture (JV) agreement during the 2020 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) to invest in the waste-to-energy project via their Masdar Tribe Energy Holdings Limited Company, according to a press release.
Financial close has been achieved for the AUD 511 million ($352.3 million) greenfield East Rockingham Resource Recovery Facility, situated on the outskirts of Perth, Western Australia.
The facility is the second waste-to-energy project that Masdar is involved in.
The construction, which has already started, will take approximately three years and the plant is expected to begin operations in late 2022.
Once completed, the facility will process 300,000 tonnes per year of non-recyclable municipal, commercial, and industrial waste as well as up to 30,000 tonnes of biosolids per year.
Moreover, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has contributed AUD 18 million grant to the project, while the Australian government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) provided AUD 57.5 million in subordinated debt.
Commenting on this, Masdar’s CEO, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, said, “The Australian waste-to-energy sector provides excellent commercial potential in the long-term. The problem of dealing with everyday waste is a global challenge, with more than 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste generated each year.”
Moreover, CEO of Tribe Infrastructure Group, Peter McCreanor, added, “We are proud to have played a leading role in the development and financing of the East Rockingham RRF, assembling a world-class team to deliver this important project for Western Australia.”
It is worth noting that the UK company, John Laing Investments, alongside Acciona Concesiones and Hitachi Zosen INOVA (HZI) are among the project’s equity investors.
