Kuwait’s Partnerships Technical Bureau (PTB) is planning a waste-to-energy project at Kabd, west of Kuwait City. About 50 per cent of Kuwait Municipality’s residential waste will be treated and converted into power at the Kabd site, which covers 500 square metres.

According to a source at the PTB, a request for proposals (RFPs) will be issued to consultants in April to advise on the tender process for the scheme. The tender will be open to all consultants as the PTB has opted against a prequalification phase.

At the same time, the PTB plans to invite expressions of interest (EOIs) from developers to build the project. An initial study for the scheme has been completed by the UK’s Baker Tilly.

“We are doing it differently to the [independent water and power project at Al-Zour] because waste-to-energy is a very different technology … we will invite [developers] to submit their technology,” says Adel al-Roumi, director general of the PTB. “We will choose two or three technologies that would be right for Kuwait and then we would ask [the shortlisted developers] to submit bids based on these technologies.”

In addition to the Kabd project, the PTB is planning two other waste sites that may or may not include the generation of power. The two sites would be capable of processing 25 per cent of Kuwait’s waste each, so that all three sites eventually will be capable processing all of Kuwait City’s waste. The projects are part of Kuwait’s move to divert rubbish away from its current unsanitary landfill sites to the new facilities, which will be able to treat the waste in addition to generating power in some cases.