Message from Stefan Kipp EMD of AlBihouth

Welcome to our August newsletter. As we approach the end of the peak construction phase, we still have 3000+ staff on site, and our EPC contractor will start to demobilize the workforce once the pressure test of our second boiler is completed; this is due in mid-September. At the 400Kv Substation our teams have been installing the high voltage switchgear equipment that will connect us to the main power grid for Abu Dhabi, and we have pulled the high voltage cables from the site to the interface building where this connection will be made. Our EPC contractor is finishing the installation of the fire pumps and fire mains this month. When this is completed in September, we can test the deluge system for the main and auxiliary transformers.
Following the successful pressure test of Boiler line 2, our EPC contractor has been fitting internal concrete linings called refractory. These help to protect the boiler pipework from the extremes of heat and corrosion when we start to burn waste in the combustion chamber. My team have started regular meetings with the Environmental Regulator for Abu Dhabi (EAD) discussing the protocols for the installation and connection of our plant emissions monitoring equipment with their central database. (CEMS, is the continuous emissions monitoring system that measures and records all flue gases emitted during combustion). Careful control of our emissions is essential for compliance with local and national regulations, as we move towards first waste fire in Q1 2027.

Project Summary to date

Following the completion of the waste bunker sprinkler system, our EPC contractor has been fitting the roofing panels and is closing the remaining wall panels on the eastern aspect. Cable laying and terminations of cables to equipment is ongoing around the site, and my team are tracking the progress of this essential work, which must be completed to allow cold commissioning works to begin. The flue gas treatment systems (FGT) in boiler lines 1 and 2 are progressing and cabling to the CEMS equipment stations on the boiler stacks are being fitted. The fit out of the main control room on the fifth floor of the administration building is ongoing, and this month the viewing window into the waste bunker was fitted. Our waste crane operators will control the hydraulic grabs that load waste from the bunker into the feed hoppers from this location. The lower floors in the administration building, which contain offices and utility rooms are being fitted out with toilets, showers, and other service systems. Pressure testing and radiographic testing have been ongoing this month, and due to the necessary exclusion zones, the contractors conducting them have been using the afternoon hot weather stand downs and night shifts when there are less personnel on site. The fire protection system around the generator step-up transformer (GSUT) and the auxiliary transformers are being completed this month, to be ready for the deluge test of sprinklers due in September. Systems that have been completed by EPC are inspected by my team, after which they are handed over to the commissioning team. Commissioning safety inductions have been ongoing this month as the additional hazards associated with live, hot and pressurized systems require additional control measures and safety briefings. Members of the general workforce are not allowed into commissioning-controlled areas and there is a separate permit to work system for all commissioning works.
Civil works have also been progressing this month with the weighbridge and gate house structures now complete and internal fit-out underway. The road network linking the main site access through to the weighbridges and then round to the tipping floor is well underway, and sewage and drainage pipework is being completed and back filled around the site. The workshop and storage building is progressing, with internal fit out of fire systems, cabling, tiling and electrical installations underway. When complete the warehouse will house members of the Operations and Maintenance team in offices.

HSE update

During August we reached 5 million safe man hours without LTI. This worthy achievement will be marked at our monthly safety awards ceremony in September. The commissioning senior authorized person (SAP) is now at site and has control over all areas that have been handed over to commissioning. Access to commissioning-controlled areas, which are identified by blue and white chains and safety notices, is strictly controlled, and persons needing to enter must receive approval from the SAP. Our Operations and Maintenance Team have recruited the plant HSE manager, and he will be mobilized to site in September.