The government-owned Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (Be’ah) plans to complete a detailed feasibility study of its landmark waste-to-energy initiative by the third quarter of this year.

A provisional study of the proposed venture, part of a wider strategy by the state-run utility to restructure and privatise Oman’s solid waste sector, has been determined as “very promising”, a high-ranking executive of Be’ah was quoted as saying by Oman Daily Observer.

Mohammed Sulaiman al Harthy, executive vice president of corporate strategic development, said: “The Waste-to-Energy initiative is still in the study phase.”

“But a preliminary feasibility study has shown (the proposed project) to be very promising. We are now working on the detailed feasibility study, which has been tendered as well,” he added.

The proposal centres on the establishment of a commercial-scale seawater desalination plant powered by electricity generated from the conversion of solid waste to energy.

A 2013 study of the proposed scheme concluded that 2,100 tonnes per day of recycled calorific waste could produce 73 mcm of potable water annually, representing around 30% of the country’s total installed desalination capacity.

Al Harthy said: “This is a strategically important project, and so we will need to work on the nitty-gritty — the design, composition of the waste, source of waste, and so on — all of which are part of the detailed study.  In three to four months’ time, we should have the (report of the) study ready, based on which we can then move forward.”

Source: Trade Arabia