Iraq has broken ground on its first waste-to-energy project in Baghdad, which has a 100 MW capacity, according to a statement issued last week. Construction on the USD 500 mn plant — to be developed by Shanghai’s SUS Environment in two years under a 25-year investment term — was initially set to start in February, Iraq’s National Investment Commission head Haider Makkiyah told Asharq in January.

REMEMBER- Iraq received 15 bids from local and international companies to design, build, own, and operate the facility last year. The Baghdad municipality signed the investment agreement for the project last month.

Some details: The facility — to be equipped with a 100 MW steam turbine generator — will process 3k tons of waste per day with a power generation efficiency exceeding 30% and a landfill rate (the proportion of waste sent to landfill out of the total waste generated) of less than 5%.

Paving the way for WtE: Iraqi officials first began drafting legislation to encourage investments in waste-to-energy projects in 2022. The government is also planning another waste-to-energy facility to be established in Abu Ghraib.

Iraq is seeing a lot of firsts: Iraq will also finalize a feasibility study for thecountry’s first wind energy project this year with a capacity of 500 MW. TotalEnergies is also set to begin operating the first phase of its solar power project this year.

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