Two Hazardous Waste Centres Start Operations in Al Ruwais

The waste treatment facilities have been acquired by Veolia, ADQ and Vision Invest

Leading ESG company Veolia with partners, ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, and Vision Invest, have met all the approvals and reached a financial close for the acquisition of two hazardous industrial waste treatment plants in Al Ruwais Industrial City, UAE. The conditional agreement for this transaction was signed between the parties in November 2022 and the two plants have now been handed over to the consortium from ADNOC Refining.

Veolia and its partners, ADQ and Vision Invest, will treat the hazardous industrial waste of Abu Dhabi’s biggest industrial complex in Al Ruwais, which includes the largest oil refinery in the Middle East.

The acquisition of plants, which have an annual capacity of nearly 70,000 tonnes, was financed through a combination of equity and long term non-recourse project finance debt with completion contingent interest rate hedges put in place last November. Natixis and Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) acted as the Lead MLAs and Structuring Banks. JP Morgan and Natixis acted as the Contingent Hedge and Hedge Providers. Veolia will have 50.1 per cent participation in the operating company alongside Vision Invest (24.95 per cent) and ADQ (24.95 per cent).

Veolia aims to maximize the resource recovery (water and oil) from the oil and gas hazardous waste to reuse them in nearby industrial plants, setting up an innovative circular economy and local energy loops. The consortium will also significantly expand the existing solar farm to produce more locally sourced green energy.