A consortium including ACCIONA Agua wins contract for world’s largest WWTP plant, in Mexico

The 500m euro facility will deliver wastewater treatment for a population of 10.5 million.

ACCIONA Agua’s proposal was selected on the basis of its financial strength and full compliance with technical, economic and legal requirements.

Mexico’s Federal Government, through the country’s National Water Commission (Conagua), has awarded a contract for water treatment services to a consortium in which ACCIONA Agua is a partner, along with Promotora del Desarrollo de América Latina, S.A. de C.V., Controladora de Operaciones de Infraestructura, S.A. de C.V. (ICA); Atlatec, S.A. de C.V.; Desarrollo y Construcciones Urbanas, S.A. de C.V. y Green Gas Pioneer Crossing Energy, LLC.

The contract is for the construction and subsequent operation and maintenance of what will be the world’s largest wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to date, located in Atotonilco (Hidalgo state).

The consortium was awarded the government tender, on December 18, thanks to a proposal that was deemed not only financially solid but also fully compliant with the technical, economic and legal requirements laid out in the conditions of the tender.

The plant will have a nominal average treatment capacity of 35m3/second and a maximum treatment capacity of 50m3/second, including the evacuation of the solid waste and sludge generated. In addition, the facility will be equipped with a cogeneration system which will use the biogas produced during the digestion process, making for maximum energy efficiency.

The future Atotonilco WWTP will be the largest of its kind on the planet and one of the largest-ever works among those envisaged by Mexico’s government-sponsored Cuenca del Valle Water Sustainability Program, in the same state as the country’s capital, Mexico City. It will provide wastewater treatment for 10.5 million inhabitants.

In addition, the treated wastewater will be used for irrigating 80,000 hectares of land.

The deal is worth a total 700 million dollars – around 500 million euros – and the O&M services contract runs for 25 years. The plant will create more than 2,000 jobs.

Important water treatment contracts in LatAm in 2009

With this new deal, ACCIONA Agua brings 2009 to a close having obtained three major contracts in Latin America which will deliver water to more than 2.5 million people, consolidating the Company’s position in the global water treatment services market. ACCIONA Agua’s other two big LatAm contracts in 2009 were for the construction and operation of a drinking water plant and adduction line in the province of Peravia, in the Dominican Republic; and  for technical assistance and maintenance for the Arrudas WWTP, in Brazil.

The contract for technical assistance and maintenance for the Arrudas WWTP aims at obtaining 15 million euros’ worth of annual electrical energy savings and bringing the facility’s carbon emissions down by 6,400 metric tons a year. The 64-hectare plant boasts a treatment capacity for a population equivalent of 1.6 million inhabitants or 4.5m3/second.

In the Dominican Republic, ACCIONA Agua will construct and commission a drinking water plant in Peravia. The plant has a capacity of 86,400m3/day, and a 17.5km adduction line, covering a population of 138,000 (which may be extended to 300,000 inhabitants at a later date) and it will put an end to the severe drinking-water shortages that have blighted the region for more than 40 years.