Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) is set to appoint a financial adviser on the development of a $1bn waste to energy project, the first of its kind in the UAE.

The mandate is expected to go to the UK’s HSBC. The project is expected to produce 100MW of power by 2016 and process 1 million tonnes of waste a year. It is part of a wider plan to dramatically cut the amount of waste being buried in landfills in the desert.

Once appointed, the financial adviser will be involved in raising financing for the project and a power purchase agreement with the Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority (Adwea). If the scheme is successful it is expected to be followed by other similar projects.

Taqa signed a memorandum of understanding with the Centre of Waste Management in June 2012 to help with a broader effort to cut the amount of rubbish going into landfill by 80 per cent by 2030.

Dubai had been planning a $2bn waste-to-energy project but scrapped the idea in mid-2012 because of problems financing it. The decision to drop the project came despite the emirate’s government already having received several bids for the scheme in late 2011, which had already followed previous failed attempts to get the project moving.