
DEWA signs 35 year PPA with Dubai Municipality for DWMC
Tribe acted as lead transaction and sole financial advisor to Dubai Municipality for the duration of this landmark project.
Tribe acted as lead transaction and sole financial advisor to Dubai Municipality for the duration of this landmark project.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 9, 2022 – Masdar Tribe Australia, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company Masdar and infrastructure advisory and development firm Tribe Infrastructure Group, has secured an AUD48.2 million grant from the Australian Government for its Maryvale Energy from Waste (EfW) project.
The funding will be used to construct the landmark EfW facility in the Latrobe Valley, located in the Gippsland region of Victoria. It will be adjacent to Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of pulp and paper.
Once completed, the facility will recover energy from non-recyclable waste – approximately 325,000 tonnes per annum – that would otherwise go to landfill; it will reuse the extracted energy in the form of steam and electricity to power the mill.
The innovative combined heat and power solution for Maryvale is an Australian first with its high-efficiency solution and unique integration with the Maryvale Mill, enhancing the competitiveness of locally manufactured products.
Commenting on the grant, Edward Nicholas, General Manager of Masdar Tribe Australia, said: “We are pleased to secure the support of the Australian Government in our ambition to launch the country’s most innovative solution for the treatment of residual waste, along with our partners Opal and Veolia. Masdar Tribe Australia is committed to ongoing nationwide efforts to promote a circular economy. The Maryvale Energy from Waste project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 270,000 tonnes per annum and free up enough energy to power the equivalent of 50,000 homes.”
The grant forms part of the Australia’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative, where the government supports innovative efforts to promote local industry.
Aside from driving down emissions, the project is expected to generate more than 500 jobs across Victoria and 450 jobs in Gippsland during construction and more than 60 jobs once operational. Construction will begin in the second half of 2022.
Edward Nicholas added: “We thank the Commonwealth Government for supporting our innovative project, and we are pleased to be advancing such a meaningful partnership with the Gippsland community.”
In 2020, Masdar and Tribe established the joint venture to specifically develop EfW projects in Australia and provide solutions for some of the 27 million tonnes of waste landfilled annually.
The joint venture earlier announced other projects including the East Rockingham Waste to Energy project in Perth, which when completed will process 300,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste per year.
About Tribe Infrastructure Group
Tribe Infrastructure Group is an independent infrastructure financial advisor and project developer headquartered in Abu Dhabi and regulated by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market. Tribe’s advisory and development solutions are designed to advance critical infrastructure needs of governments and the private sector, with a focus on providing sustainable solutions that enhance energy security and support the advancement of the communities in which it operates. As at 31 December 2021, Tribe had active advisory mandates with a combined value of projects more than USD11.5 billion and a development project portfolio worth more than USD2 billion.
Tribe acted as lead transaction and sole financial advisor to Dubai Municipality over a 3 year period up to financial close in June 2021, performing a pivotal role for Dubai Municipality in procuring and negotiating core transaction documents. It is the first large scale PPP project completed by Dubai Municipality.
The PFI awards, which are widely regarded as the most prestigious in the infrastructure finance industry, celebrate excellence and innovation in public-private partnerships. Warsan was selected as the winner of the Middle East & Africa category, beating out strong competition from across the region.
Commenting on the award, Tribe’s Head of Advisory James Cook commented “It’s not every day you are given the opportunity to lead a great team on a ‘world largest’ transaction, for a client who has never procured a project financing before. We thank Dubai Municipality, its project partners and the many advisors that made it possible. This is a thoroughly well-deserved result for all”.
The financing of the USD 1.2 billion project reached financial close in June 2021. The project is the world’s largest Waste to Energy project to be built in a single phase. When operational, it will have the capacity to process 1.9 million tonnes of municipal waste per year and generate 200 MW of electricity.
Warsan Waste to Energy is part of Dubai’s broader strategy to become a global leader in sustainable development, as outlined in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050. The strategy aims to generate 75% of Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050, reducing the city’s carbon footprint.
The Dubai Waste Management Centre Project (“DWMC”) was procured as a design, build, finance, operate and maintain PPP project for a 1.9 million tonne per annum (200 MW) municipal solid waste to energy facility. The project is being co-developed by a consortium comprising Dubal Holding, ITOCHU Corporation, Hitachi Zosen Inova, BESIX Group, and Tech Group, as the project developers and joint venture partners in the project company. They appointed Besix and HZI to build the facility and provide the long-term operations and maintenance of the facility.
Client: Dubai Municipality
Enterprise Value: USD 1.1bn
Tribe Role: Financial and commercial advisor to grantor
Financial Close: July 2021
Tribe was engaged as leaTribe was mandated by Dubai Municipality (“DM”) to lead the commercial and financial workstreams in the procurement of one of the largest municipal solid waste facilities globally.
Tribe’s mandate included:
The objective of the project was to structure and deliver a waste to energy facility to contribute to accomplishing the goals set by Dubai Municipality to minimse the volume of municipal waste in landfills and develop alternative energy sources as well as contribute to sustainable and eco-friendly waste management in the UAE and the targets outlined in the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
This was successfully completed with achievement of financial close in July 2021.
EWEC and the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center (Tadweer), signed an MOU earlier in the year outlining their joint intention for the development of greenfield Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Independent Power Projects (IPP) to be located in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The project is the third of its kind in the GCC region procured under long term project finance, following the Sharjah and Dubai projects.
Tribe is joined by Ashurst as legal advisor and Ramboll as technical advisor for the project.