This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 11, 2018

SHAH ALAM: Worldwide Holdings Bhd, wholly owned by the Selangor state government, plans to spend RM1 billion to develop a solid waste disposal and treatment system using waste-to-energy (WTE) technology targeted for completion in 2024.

It is partnering with Western Power Clean Energy Sdn Bhd — a joint venture between China Western Power Industrial Co Ltd and China Western Power International — for the project, beginning with a RM500 million WTE facility in Jeram, Selangor. The plant, slated to be the biggest incinerator in Malaysia, will be developed in two phases.

It signed a joint development agreement with Western Power Clean Energy to effect the partnership yesterday. “We are honoured to be given the trust by the state government to lead the way in WTE development for Selangor. The first phase of our WTE plant in Jeram will be ready for commercial operations by 2020, while the second phase’s completion is targeted by 2024,” Worldwide Holdings chief executive officer Datin Paduka Norazlina Zakaria said during her speech at the signing ceremony.

The funding to develop the plant will be fully borne by Worldwide Holdings, while the state government has provided an allocation of RM40 million for land acquisition.

Norazlina said 20% of the project cost will be raised through equity, and the other 80% through financial institutions. “We may issue green sukuk for this purpose,” she added.

The plant will burn solid waste as feedstock to heat up its furnace and create steam that propels the turbine to generate electricity, the company said.

“The WTE plant addresses all environmental issues through modern and high-tech treatment facilities in strict compliance with the EU (European Union) standards. The technology we are adopting has a proven track record, using similar waste characteristics in Malaysia,” she said.

Worldwide Holdings also plans to build an Integrated Solid Waste Management Centre (ISWMC) — comprising a material recovery facility for construction and demolition waste, anaerobic digester, research and development centre and composting plant — on a 200-acre (80.94ha) land adjacent to the company’s current Jeram Sanitary Landfill.

Norazlina said Western Power Clean Energy was chosen as Worldwide Holdings’ partner based on its proven capability in developing WTE plants in China and other parts of the world.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, present to witness the signing ceremony, said the facility’s first phase will produce between 20 and 25 megawatts of green energy, from about 1,200 tonnes of waste per day, enough to power 25,000 households within the plant’s vicinity.

“The plant is expected to reduce land use for landfill, while supporting the [federal] government’s aspiration of increasing renewable energy generation to 20% by 2025,” he said.