Sharjah-based Beeah to develop the worlds first commercial-scale waste-to-hydrogen plant in the UAE

A joint development agreement (JDA) has been signed by Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based Beeah to create the first waste-to-hydrogen facility on a commercial scale. A cooperative agreement (JDA) has been reached by Beeah, Chinook Hydrogen, Air Water Gas Solutions, and a subsidiary of Air Water Inc., building on significant advances made in their waste-to-hydrogen demonstration facility. The deal was signed at the UAE Pavilion at COP28 by Ishmael Chalabi, President and CEO of Air Water Gas Solutions, Dr Rifat Chalabi, CEO and Co-Founder of Chinook Hydrogen, and Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Beeah Group.

With its appealing, carbon-negative method of producing green hydrogen from garbage, the hydrogen-from-waste demonstration plant has achieved significant advancements. This agreement will build on that achievement. Similar to the fuel cell found in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like the Toyota Mirai, the demonstration plant converts a variety of organic-based waste, such as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), non-recyclable plastics, and wood waste, into super green hydrogen. This hydrogen is then connected to a Toyota fuel-cell unit that produces power from the hydrogen produced.

The RODECS pyrolysis technology of Chinook Hydrogen, which has been developed and refined over the course of 23 years with 18 gasification units deployed globally, is advantageous to the demonstration facility. Using "Active-Hydropyrolysis," a highly patent-protected method, a variety of post-consumer organic-based wastes, including MSW, non-recyclable plastics, sewage sludge, biomass, and waste wood feedstocks, are processed in batches to create syngas.

The only system in the world that can process low-energy waste and produce syngas with hydrogen concentrations of about 50%vol is Chinook Hydrogen's RODECS system. In this system, high purity fuel-cell grade hydrogen for use in various chemical, industrial, and transportation applications is produced by further processing the hydrogen-rich syngas using cutting-edge hydrogen refining technology developed by Air Water. Additionally, the process can be carbon negative since the plant can absorb and store carbon dioxide from the syngas.

Beeah has significantly increased landfill waste diversion rates and contributed to net-zero emissions, in line with the UAE's Net-Zero by 2050 Pathway. Its 12-unit integrated waste management complex processes almost every kind of household, business, and industrial waste to create recyclables, alternative fuels, and alternative raw materials. This allows for a steady rise in the percentage of waste diverted from landfills and promotes the circular economy.

The Sharjah Waste-to-Energy facility, the first undertaking of Beeah's joint venture with Masdar, the pioneer in global renewable energy, was opened in May 2022. This initiative further increased landfill waste diversion to a new regional record of 90% and displaces 450,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. Another significant step towards Beeah's goal of complete landfill waste diversion in Sharjah would be the addition of the waste-to-hydrogen facility.

The proposed waste-to-hydrogen plant in Sharjah is strategically aligned with the UAE National Hydrogen Strategy 2050, which aims to establish the country as one of the major hydrogen hubs in the world by setting a goal of producing 1.4 million tonnes of hydrogen annually by 2031. This is in addition to the decarbonization of the transport industry and lowering emissions in the waste management sector.