€20 billion for waste-to-energy plants in Ukraine

The Swedish company EcoEnergy Scandinavia and the Ukrainian government today signed an agreement to build and operate waste incineration plants in the country. The firm plans to bring in third-party investors and partners to speed up implementation of the more than €20 billion multi-year project.

The planned facilities will both help reduce waste and generate energy for Ukraine. Fourteen cities are under consideration as sites for the new plants.

EcoEnergy plans to construct and operate local plants for incineration of all sorts of waste to produce electricity, heating/cooling and biogas. It says the technology it uses will enable carbon dioxide-neutral production and operations. Facilities in the first two cities are set to begin operations in the second half of this year.

“This agreement is a part in our ambitions in directing the country toward a more environment friendly development,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. “High-tech waste-to-energy plants will give us access to a renewable energy source that will be developed in a larger scale — something that will contribute to an increased independence regarding energy supply and for the country as a whole.”

“For EcoEnergy, the possibility to initiate this cooperation with the Ukranian state is an important step in the company’s development,” said Lars Guldstrand, EcoEnergy’s chairman of the board.

By transforming its waste into energy, Ukraine hopes to both manage the growing waste volumes in the country while also meeting the demand for a stable and efficient clean energy supply.