Energy Conversion and Management 75 (2013) 402–406

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

An assessment of the potential contribution from waste-to-energy

facilities to electricity demand in Saudi Arabia
Omar K.M. Ouda a,⇑, Huseyin M. Cekirge b, Syed A.R. Raza c
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Prince Mohamed Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prince Mohamed Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
c
Department of Electrical Engineering, Prince Mohamed Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is the largest crude oil producer in the world and possesses the largest
Received 20 May 2013 oil reserves. The crude oil revenue has resulted in a massive socio-economic development over the last
Accepted 29 June 2013 four decades. This situation has resulted in rapid growth of the country’s electricity demand and muni-
cipal solid waste (MSW) generation. The KSA is proposing an impressive plan towards renewable energy
utilization that includes waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities. This research assesses the potential contribu-
Keywords: tion of WTE facilities to total Saudi peak power demand up to the year 2032 based on two scenarios: Mass
Saudi Arabia
Burn and Mass Burn with recycling for the entire country and for six major cities in the KSA. The analysis
Waste-to-energy
Saudi electricity demand
shows a potential to produce about 2073 Megawatts (MW) based on a Mass Burn scenario and about
Municipal solid waste 166 MW based on Mass Burn with recycling scenario. These values amount to about 1.73% and 0.14%
Renewable energy of the projected 2032 peak electricity demand of 120 Gigawatt. The forecasted results of each city from
the two scenarios can be used to design future WTE facilities in the main cities of Saudi Arabia. Further
investigations are recommended to evaluate the two scenarios based on financial, social, technical, and
environmental criteria.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is located in the Middle East
and lies between 16° 220 and 32° 140 North Latitudes and 34° 290
and 55° 400 East Longitudes. The KSA is the world’s largest crude
oil producer and possesses the largest oil reserves. The revenues
generated from oil have contributed to large scale socio-economic
development over the last four decades. This development has
come with a substantial increase in population and a rapid increase
in the standards of living for the majority of the population. Inter-
nal immigration from rural to urban areas and the influx of expa-
triate workers has dramatically increased the urban population.
The population of the kingdom has grown at an annual average
rate of 3.4% over the last 35 years. Overall, the total population
has dramatically increased from 7 million in 1975 to about 27 mil-
lion in 2010 [4]. This situation has resulted in rapid growth of the
country’s electricity demand and municipal solid waste (MSW)
generation [1–3]. This demographic explosion was also coupled
with an increase in the urbanization level, with the urban popula-
tion rising from about 50% of the total population in 1970 to about
80% in 2000 [4]. There are six major cities in the KSA with a popu-
lation of one million or more: Riyadh, the capital, with 5.2 million,
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +966 3 8499343.
E-mail addresses: oouda@pmu.edu.sa, okouda@hotmail.com (O.K.M. Ouda).
Jeddah with 3.4 million, the Dammam area with 2.0 million, Makka
with 1.7 million, Madinah with 1.2 million, Al-Hassa with 1.1 mil-
lion, and Al-Taif with 1.0 million [4].
1.1. Electricity demand
The electricity demand grew on average at a rate of 5.8% be-
tween 2006 and 2010 [5]. The current electricity peak demand is
about 55 Gigawatt (GW). The peak electrical demand is projected
to reach 120 GW by the year 2032 as shown in Fig. 1 [6]. The cur-
rent demand is typically met through conventional heavy oil, die-
sel, and gas power plants spread across the country [6]. Towards
diversifying the sources of electricity and ensuring the sustainabil-
ity of power generation, the government initiated the King Abdul-
lah City of Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) in 2010 [7].
The vision of the KSA government and KACARE for the future
power resources in Saudi Arabia is to maximize utilization of sci-
ence, research, and industries related to atomic and renewable en-
ergy for peaceful purposes in a way that leads to raising the
standards of living and the quality of life in the KSA [7]. In this
direction, the KSA is proposing an impressive plan regarding
renewable energy utilization on the planet that includes WTE facil-
ities. The two decade plan includes a hybrid feed-in-tariff program
and production of up to 54 GW from nuclear and renewable energy
sources. The first round of bidding slated for 2013 includes

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.06.056
 O.K.M. Ouda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 75 (2013) 402–406
Table 1
Energy content of different types of wastes [10].
(a)
(b)
Fig. 1. Gap between (a) peak demand and (b) existing and planned capacity [6].
200 Megawatt (MW) of Geothermal and WTE facilities [8]. How-
ever, research is needed to forecast the potential energy produc-
tion from renewable resources, including the WTE system.
1.2. Municipal solid waste management
Municipal solid waste (MSW) should be considered as a valu-
able source for recycled materials and energy. The benefits from
MSW are immense and are unquestionable for countries like Saudi
Arabia and the other Gulf oil states as they may help in saving the
primary source of energy in this part of the world—oil. Currently,
municipalities are governing MSW management in the KSA [3].
The extent of MSW practices in the KSA is simple: collect and get
rid of it by dumping it in open landfill sites. In addition, the low
cost of landfills makes a large MSW recycling program implemen-
tation unachievable for the time being [2]. The only large scale
recycling system that currently exists is the trash sorters labor col-
lection of metals and cardboards from garbage containers [2]. Few
initiatives for MSW recycling are in place in the Eastern Province of
the KSA. These initiatives are small scale and their contributions
are not documented. The KSA currently generates about 14 million
tons of MSW per year with an average of 1.4 kg/capita/day [2,9].
The landfill requirement is about 2.8 million m2/year [2]. The
MSW wastes of the KSA include 37% organic materials, 28.5% pa-
per, 5.2% plastics, 8.3% mineral, 4.6% glass, 8% wood, 6.4% textile,
and 2% others [9]. The above average MSW production rate is the
result of the lack of community-wide programs to enhance envi-
ronmental awareness, and to encourage reduction of MSW gener-
ation, and to promote recycling. US EPA considered WTE
technology as a renewable source of electricity with less environ-
mental impacts than almost any other sources [11]. WTE reduces
the amount of MSW deposited at landfill sites; typically about
90% volume reduction and 80% mass reduction [18]. Incineration
also minimizes leachate and methane formation and odor emis-
sions. Methane is 21 times more detrimental than carbon dioxide
from the global warming perspective [17]. Many of landfills in
KSA are mature landfills in that substantial amount of volume
has already been used by municipal waste deposits. With addi-
tional dumping, the amount of undesirable by-products such as
leachate, municipal waste sludge, renegade methane and odor
emissions and all health hazards associated with these will keep
increasing. The KSA does not have any WTE facility in place. The
huge annual quantity of MSW and its high energy contents show
the significant potential for WTE facilities in the Kingdom.
403
Type of waste Energy content (Btu/lb)
Mixed paper 6800
Mixed food waste 2400
Mixed green yard waste 2700
Mixed plastic 14,000
Rubber 11,200
Leather 8000
Textiles 8100
Demolition softwood 7300
Waste hardwood 6500
Coal 12,300
Fuel, oil 18,300
Natural gas 23,700
2. Objective and methodology
This research aims to assess the potential contribution of
waste-to-energy facilities to total Saudi peak power demand up
to the year 2032. The potential contribution will be assessed by
conducting quantitative analysis of potential WTE electricity pro-
duction in the KSA. The analysis will consider two scenarios for
WTE development: Mass Burn and Mass Burn with recycling.
The Mass Burn scenario implies full utilization of MSW for WTE
production. Mass Burn with recycling assumes removal of all
potentially recyclable materials from the waste stream and utiliz-
ing the remaining MSW for WTE production. The total Saudi
MSW electricity generation quantity and for the major six cities
up to year 2032 will be forecasted. The year 2010 was chosen
as the starting year for forecasting. The MSW production rate
was assumed to be 1.4 kg/capita/day. MSW contents were consid-
ered as per AFED 2008, mentioned in Section 1.2. The caloric en-
ergy content of the various types of waste are listed in Table 1
[10]. These measures were used to calculate the total energy con-
tent per kilogram of Saudi municipal waste. There are a number
of developed and emerging technologies that are able to produce
energy from waste. The most widely used and proven WTE is the
process of producing energy in the form of heat and/or electricity
from waste sources via combustion [11–14]. The research litera-
ture has documented a combustion efficiency of 25% to 30% for
operated WTE facilities in different places across the globe [15–
17]. A combustion efficiency of 25% will be assumed in calculat-
ing the WTE for Saudi Arabia.
3. Results and discussion
The population is expected to continue growing on the same
pattern (3.4% per year) given the cultural norms determining Saudi
reproductive behavior and the social and economic characteristics
of the country. There are six major urban areas in the KSA. About
62% of the Saudi population lives in these six areas. The forecast
KSA population up to the year 2032 is presented in Fig. 2. In
2032 the population of the KSA will be almost twice that of the
2010 figure of about 27 million. This will also result in doubling
the generated MSW quantity. The yearly generated MSW for the
whole country and for the six main cities are presented in Fig. 3.
The 2012 MSW quantity is about 13.8 million tons and this is esti-
mated to reach about 26.9 million tons by 2032. This is a huge
(quantify) amount of MSW and should be managed wisely. Manag-
ing the MSW with the current practices in Saudi (landfilling) will
result in huge environmental and financially negative conse-
quences. Undoubtedly, WTE is an alternative solution and recy-
cling will help as well.
404 O.K.M. Ouda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 75 (2013) 402–406

Fig. 2. The KSA population forecast results.

Fig. 3. MSW generation forecast results.

Fig. 4. MSW recycled materials forecast results.

 O.K.M. Ouda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 75 (2013) 402–406 405

Table 2
Saudi MSW energy contents.

Material Waste composition % Energy content (Btu/lb) kW h/kg in Material kW h/kg in Waste HHV
Paper 28.5 6800 4.39 1.18
Plastic 5.2 14,000 9.05 0.46
Glass 4.6 0 0.00 0.00
Wood 8 7300 4.73 0.33
Textiles 6.4 8100 5.20 0.28
Organic 37.0 2400 1.55 0.17
Others 10.3 5200 3.36 1.20
Total energy for Mass Burn with recycling scenario (kW h/kg) 0.48
Total energy contents of Mass Burn scenario (kW h/kg) 2.70

Fig. 5. Mass Burn with recycling scenario results.

Fig. 6. Mass Burn scenario results.

3.1. Materials recycling
The MSW contains many valuable materials that can be recy-
cled with a good market price including paper, plastics, glass,
wood, and textile products. To gain more insight into the recycling
potential, the generated quantity of these products was forecasted
and they are presented in Fig. 4. The values on the figure below
show a huge potential for recycling and materials recovery
facilities in the KSA. The decision to recycle these materials or to
Mass Burn them will require further investigation into the financial
and environmental impacts.
3.2. MSW energy contents
The energy content of Saudi MSW was calculated based on the
caloric content of MSW materials (Table 1), and the MSW
406 O.K.M. Ouda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 75 (2013) 402–406
composition. Table 2 shows the energy contents in kW per kilo-
grams (kg) of MSW. Two values of the energy contents per kg of
MSW were calculated for the Mass Burn scenario and Mass Burn
with recycling scenario. The Mass Burn scenario implies full utili-
zation of MSW for WTE production without recycling and the en-
ergy content is estimated at 2.70 kW h/kg. The Mass Burn with
recycling scenario assumes removal of all potentially recycled
materials from the waste stream and utilizing the remaining
MSW for WTE production. The energy content for Mass Burn with
recycling scenario is estimated at 0.48 kW h/kg. The big difference
between the energy contents of the two scenarios resulted from
removing the high energy contents materials (plastic, paper, wood,
and textiles) from the Mass Burn scenario and considering them for
recycling purposes.
3.3. WTE production forecast
The population and MSW forecast results were used to estimate
the WTE production potential in the KSA. The WTE production
potentials were calculated for the two scenarios. The Mass Burn
with recycling scenario forecasting results are presented in Fig. 5.
The figure shows a potential to produce about 166 Megawatt
(MW) of electricity from MSW by the year 2032. This value forms
about 0.14% of the 120 GW peak electricity demand in 2032. City
potential production results show that Riyadh city has the largest
potential of 35 MW and the minimum potential is for Al-Taif City
at about 6 MW by the year 2032.
The Mass Burn scenario results are presented in Fig. 6. The fig-
ure shows the potential to produce about 2073 Megawatt (MW) of
electricity from MSW by the year 2032. This value forms about
1.73% of the 120 GW peak electricity demand for that terminal
year; and the minimum potential for Al-Taif City at about 81 MW.
The forecast results for the six cities apropos the two scenarios
can be used to design a future WTE facility installed in all the main
cities of the kingdom. There is substantial difference between the
potential energy productions of the two scenarios. The Mass Burn
scenario can produce 12 times more than the Mass Burn with recy-
cling scenario. Further investigations are recommended to com-
pare the two scenarios with reference to financial, social,
technical, and environmental criteria. The decision to select be-
tween the two scenarios is crucial and should be taken at a political
level based on the results of intensive research.
4. Conclusion
The KSA is proposing the most impressive plan aimed at renew-
able energy utilization on the planet that includes WTE facilities.
The two decades plan includes a Hybrid Feed-in-Tariff program
and a projected production figure of up to 54 Megawatts from nu-
clear and renewable energy sources. The first round of bidding that
will take place in 2013 includes 200 Megawatt (MW) of Geother-
mal and WTE facilities.
This research has aimed to assess the potential contribution of
waste-to-energy facilities to total Saudi peak power demand up
to 2032. The potential contributions were assessed by conducting
a quantitative forecast analysis of potential WTE electricity pro-
duction up to the terminal year of 2032. The analysis considered
two scenarios for WTE development: Mass Burn and Mass Burn
with recycling. The two scenarios were considered for the whole
country and for the six main cities. The Mass Burn with recycling
scenario results show a potential production of about 166 Mega-
watt (MW) of electricity from MSW by 2032. This value forms
about 0.14% of the 120 GW peak electricity demand in 2032. The
Mass Burn scenario results show a potential production of about
2073 MW of WTE electricity, which is about 1.73% of the peak elec-
tricity demand projected for the terminal year.
The projected results for each city from the two scenarios can
be used to design a future WTE facility in the main cities of Saudi
Arabia. The Mass Burn scenario can produce 12 times WTE electric-
ity more than the Mass Burn with recycling scenario. Further
investigations are recommended that will compare the two scenar-
ios based on financial, social, technical, and environmental criteria.
The environmental studies should also include carbon credit anal-
ysis. The socio-economic studies should consider WTE production
costs, recycling value, land saving, job creation, and human capac-
ity-building opportunities. And technical studies should be focused
on determining the optimum waste-to-energy technology to be
implemented in the KSA.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Prince
Mohammad Bin Fahd University (PMU) through the College of
Engineering; they would also like to thank Dr. Alex Gordon of
the College of Arts and Sciences at PMU for copy editing our
paper.
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