Iraq has awarded China's Shanghai SUS Environment Co. Ltd a $497mn contract to build the country's first waste-to-energy plant, which will process 3,000 tonnes of waste daily and generate 100 MW of electricity, the National Investment Commission said on January 21.

The waste-to-energy project in Baghdad is part of plans for further projects in various parts of Iraq to expand reliance on clean energy.

Construction of the facility in Baghdad's Nahrawan district will begin next month and take approximately two years to complete, Commission Chairman Haider Makiya said in a press conference.

“This project represents a practical challenge to address the serious environmental impacts from traditional landfill methods,” Professor Dr Haider Muhammad Makia, Chairman of the NIC, told reporters at a press conference held at the commission’s headquarters.

“It also reflects the government’s commitment to improved waste management and the conversion of waste into a sustainable energy source,” he added.

“This experience will serve as a pioneering model, one that can be rolled out across other provinces,” he added, noting that a second phase is planned for Abu Ghraib using similarly advanced technologies.

Makia praised collaboration among Iraq’s Ministries of Electricity, Environment, Science and Technology, as well as Baghdad Municipality.

He said the NIC’s Review and Approval Committee visited comparable projects in China operating under the same technology, adding: “The committee prepared a technical report recommending the contract be awarded to the Chinese firm executing the project.”

Representatives from the Ministries of Electricity, Environment, Science and Technology, and Baghdad Municipality attended the press conference alongside the regional director of the Chinese company and several NIC director-generals.

Established in 2008, SUS Environment is "a leading provider of integrated environmental and energy services, dedicated to achieving sustainable development for both people and the environment."

Chinese companies are increasingly securing energy-related contracts in Iraq. Recently, China's ZPEC won contracts for developing fields in eastern Baghdad and the Middle Euphrates. ZhenHua Oil was awarded a contract to establish the Qirn block in Najaf and Anbar provinces. The daily waste generated in Iraq is estimated at 23mn tonnes daily.