Sharjah’s Bee’ah, UK’s Chinook Sciences announce region’s first waste-to-hydrogen project

Sharjah-based Bee’ah will be pursuing plans for the region’s first waste-to-hydrogen project in the UAE, it announced on May 31.

The project includes a green hydrogen generation plant and a hydrogen vehicle fuelling station, in collaboration with UK-based Chinook Sciences, an industrial, renewable fuel and environmental technology company. The project is an step-up of Bee’ah and Chinook Sciences’ $180m waste gasification to energy project and aims to address market demand for new sources of renewable energy.

The waste-to-hydrogen plant will be adjacent to the fuelling station, to overcome costly transportation of hydrogen. The fuelling station will use green hydrogen generated from the plant from non-recyclable plastic waste and waste wood to power hydrogen vehicles.

Salim Bin Mohammed Al Owais, chairman of Bee’ah, said: “Green hydrogen will be a vital pillar of our future energy landscape and Bee’ah has been looking into this market for some time now with Chinook in alignment with our long-term strategy to develop new, sustainable energy solutions.”

“This project will showcase the potential of waste-to-hydrogen. Bee’ah has always recognised the value of energy recovery from waste and through this new project, we aim to support a circular economy across multiple fronts throughout the region,” added Khaled Al Huraimel, group CEO of Bee’ah.

Dr. Rifat Chalabi, chairman and CEO of Chinook Sciences, said: “We are very excited to use Chinook Sciences’ patented RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology in the UAE, which breaks down hydrocarbons from waste through advanced thermal treatment to release and recover green hydrogen. When the green hydrogen is used in vehicles, it emits only water and no carbon emissions.”

“Through the use of Chinook’s RODECS technology, the cost of green hydrogen from the plant shall be very competitive and has the potential to be equal to or even less than the cost of diesel and gasoline. At maximum production capacity, the plant shall be capable of fuelling 1,000 hydrogen-powered large vehicles per day,” added Dr. Chalabi.

The UAE has previously announced its aim to become a major hydrogen producer, and to reduce carbon emissions by 24 per cent by 2030. Plans include investment in green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy, like solar power as well as using carbon-capture technologies to create what is known as blue hydrogen.