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Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (Dewa) has started the process of selecting a developer or developer consortium to build and operate a landfill gas-to-energy project in Al Qusais, in the eastern part of Dubai near the border with Sharjah.

It has requested expressions of interest from companies, which it expects to receive by 24 April.

The planned project will be developed on an independent power producer (IPP) basis and will have an estimated electricity generation capacity of 6MW-12MW. 

Dewa added that the project's precise capacity will depend on generation efficiency.

Landfill gas extracted from the Al Qusais landfill site will power the generation plant. The gas extraction network is outside the scope of the package and will fall under the responsibility of another government agency, Dubai Municipality.

Dewa said a guarantee will be provided on minimum gas quantities and quality.

Dewa will purchase the power generated by the plant from the successful developer or developer consortium under a long-term power purchase agreement.

Dewa added: "The developer is expected to share ownership of a project company, to be incorporated in accordance with Dubai and UAE laws, with Dubai Green Fund, the first specialised green investment fund in [the Middle East and North Africa], launched under the funding pillar of the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050."

In February, Dewa and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) reached financial close on the 1,800MW sixth phase of the Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai.

The solar photovoltaic IPP project is expected to cost up to AED5.51bn ($1.5bn).

The state utility does not intend to procure additional natural gas-fired capacity in the future.