The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy (DoE) has launched the Policy for Energy Production from Waste (EFW) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to support its transition towards a more sustainable economy highlight the circular economy’s role.

It reflects the DoE’s commitment to enhancing Abu Dhabi’s strategies in both the energy and waste management sectors and allows for a deeper examination of the strategic investments that affect supply and demand in the local energy sector, in addition to regulating prices, fees, and tariffs. The policy applies to all EFW activities in the emirate.

The launch took place in coordination between the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy and various relevant entities in the emirate, namely Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADQ), the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer), Abu Dhabi Power Corporation, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA), Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC), Abu Dhabi Transmission & Despatch Company (TRANSCO), Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Department of Municipalities and Transport in Abu Dhabi, and Masdar City.

DoE Under-Secretary, Mohammed bin Jarsh Al Falasi, said, "The Abu Dhabi Department of Energy conducts integrated operations to develop the entire energy sector in accordance with an ambitious vision for the future that guarantees the sustainability of natural resources, aims to preserve the environment and strives to meet the sector’s commitments towards the growing demand for energy in the years ahead."

"We hope to use it to fulfil the vision and directives of our wise leadership, which aim to promote Abu Dhabi as a global hub for sustainability and the circular economy," he added.

The policy aims to address the potential challenges to the development of Energy from Waste in Abu Dhabi. It seeks to facilitate the development of EFW in the emirate by addressing, minimising, and/or removing potential barriers that may exist in the energy sector for any future development of waste-to-energy projects in Abu Dhabi.

To achieve its objectives, the policy sets out principles for the future development of EFW that are considered from an energy sector perspective. It also sets out the mechanism to establish the energy sector’s contribution to the allocation of the recovery of EFW costs.

Furthermore, the policy calls for waste-to-energy projects to be safe, reliable, efficient and economically purchased. This, in turn, requires these projects to meet a set of conditions. These are economic efficiency and emission reduction technology, among the other technologies available in the industry.

As for the allocation mechanism for EFW cost recovery from the energy sector, the policy clarifies that it should be based on an approach that estimates the energy sector’s avoided costs from EFW electricity. The price for electricity from EFW is determined by the Long Run Marginal Cost (LRMC) of the energy sector avoidable costs from EFW electricity.

As per the policy, the Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) is required to provide a report for the EFW energy LRMC estimate to the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy for approval. The DoE must also approve EWEC’s requirements to move forward with these projects.