ACCIONA Agua consolidates its presence in Portugal with a new wastewater treatment plant in the Algarve

ACCIONA Agua, in a consortium with the construction company Oliveiras, has been awarded the contract for the design, construction and start-up of the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) at Companheira, Portimão (Faro District), in the Algarve (Portugal). The customer is Águas do Algarve and the project has a budget of nearly 10.4 million euros. The plant is expected to be fully operational during in 2017.

The average treated throughput of the facility will be 25,278 cubic meters (m3) per day, and it will service a population of almost 140,000. ACCIONA Agua will undertake the supply and assembly of equipment, electricity, automation and carry out the start-up, while Oliveiras will cover the civil works and underground infrastructures.

Energy efficiency, a distinguishing feature of ACCIONA Aguas treatment plants, was one of the biggest challenges because almost all of the plant will be embedded into a hill. The hydraulic profile of the facility was designed to optimize both construction costs and energy efficiency, leading to an overall saving for Águas de Algarve.

The integration of the plant into the landscape and the sustainability of the project were key starting points for its development. Located in an area of great natural beauty inside the National Ecological Reserve of Portugal next to the river Arade, the Companheira WWTP, which will serve a major tourism enclave, was designed to minimize its environmental impact and improve the natural conditions of the area.

Through the Companheira contract, ACCIONA Agua continues to consolidate its presence in the water sector in Portugal, where it already has around twenty wastewater treatment and potable water plants. Together, these facilities service around two million people, almost one-fifth of the total population of Portugal.

In July 2014, ACCIONA Agua was also awarded a contract in the Algarve for the construction and start-up of the Vila do Bispo WWTP, which will service around 14,000 people. The budget for the project, which is expected to be completed this year, is two million euros, and the forecast treated throughput 3,551 m3 per day. ACCIONA Agua will undertake all the civil works, equipment supplies, electric power installation, automation and start-up of the plant.

In September 2013, ACCIONA Agua was awarded the scaling-up of the Monte da Rocha treatment plant located in Ourique, in the south of the Alentejo region (Portugal), as part of a consortium in which it holds 70% (the other 30% belongs to the Lucios group). This contract is worth 3.5 million euros, and after the extension work it is expected that the plant will reach a throughput of 6,400 m3/day and service an estimated population of 35,000.