A consortium led by Swiss-Japanese firm Kanadevia Inova said it plans to start building a $1.5 billion waste-to-energy plant in Casablanca by the end of the year, with full operations expected ‌by mid-2030.

The facility in Morocco’s largest city will be the second of its kind in Africa and aims to generate electricity while reducing methane emissions and other environmental impacts from the Mediouna landfill, the largest in the country.

Waste management firm Kanadevia Inova and its partners signed a concession agreement awarded by Casablanca’s city government on Monday.

The ?consortium includes Moroccan Energy Company Nareva and Japan’s Itochu.

Kanadevia Inova said that once operational, the plant will process about 1.5 million metric tonnes of waste annually and generate around 115 megawatts of electricity from a mix of waste, solar power and landfill gas, enough to supply nearly one million people.

Opponents of such plants including environmental scientists, climate activists and local community groups say they undermine recycling initiatives and emit particulate matter and greenhouse gases as most of them rely on incineration.

Construction in Casablanca would begin once debt and equity ‌financing were ?fully secured by the fourth quarter of this year, Kanadevia Inova’s Chief Executive Bruno-Frédéric Baudouin said in an interview with Reuters.

The consortium has also secured a power purchase agreement with state-owned electricity utility ONEE and would seek financing from Moroccan lenders, Baudouin said