An ACCIONA Agua consortium will build and operate Australia’s Mundaring water treatment plant

The plant will have an initial capacity of 165 million litres/day and a maximum capacity of 240 million litres/day.

The Helena Water consortium, comprising ACCIONA Agua, United Utilities Australia, Brookfield Multiplex and Royal Bank of Scotland, has been selected to design, build and operate (during a 35-year concession) the Mundaring Water Treatment Plant (WTP), in the Perth area of Western Australia. This project is the first Public-private Partnership (PPP) water project of its kind in Western Australia and it will be the first project for ACCIONA in the state. While the company has a strong presence in other Australian states, the Mundaring Water Treatment Plan represents another first for ACCIONA'S growing presence in the country.

"The consortium, which was one of two shortlisted for the competitive process by the Water Corporation, brings together a group with extensive experience and success in delivering various water environmental infrastructure projects and a very strong balance sheet", says the Government of Western Australia's Water Minister, Bill Marmion.

The Mundaring WTP will supply the Goldfield and Agricultural Water System, including Kalgoorlie in the State of Western Australia and will mark the start of the first fully fledged PPP in the Western Australian water industry. The plant will have an initial capacity of 165 million litres per day, and a maximum capacity of around 240 million litres per day.

This project consolidates ACCIONA Agua's presence in Australia and enables it to broaden its range of water treatment activities. Presently, ACCIONA Agua has designed, and is building the Adelaide desalination plant, in South Australia, which it will also operate.

"This contract is important for ACCIONA's development in Australia, where the group is also operating in renewable energy and infrastructure," said Luis Castilla, President of ACCIONA Agua. "The Mundaring water treatment plant in Perth and the Port Stanvac desalination plant in Adelaide (currently under construction), are two important milestones for ACCIONA due to their importance and high profile.  They also embody ACCIONA Agua's commitment to permanence in Australia, given that both concessions will last more than 30 years."

ACCIONA Agua Development Director in Australia, José Maria Ortega, says that he is delighted that ACCIONA Agua's technical expertise combined with its global reputation for innovation and delivering sustainable solutions has led to the awarding of this contract.

"Over the past three years we have established a robust business foundation in Australia, forming strong partnerships that will allow us to deliver projects that are important for our clients and essential to Australia's future", Mr Ortega concluded.

ACCIONA in Australia

With the Mundaring project, ACCIONA consolidates its position as a benchmark provider of sustainable solutions in energy, water and infrastructure in Australia. As well as its presence in the water industry, the company has 258 MW of wind energy fully operational and a further 48 MW under construction in Gunning (New South Wales), and holds a portfolio of more than 2,000 MW of wind and solar energy projects currently in development.

In infrastructure, the ACCIONA-led Transcity consortium, which includes  BMD Constructions and Ghella, was awarded by the Brisbane City Council the project to design and build the Legacy Way Tunnel project (formerly Northern Link Tunnel), as well as a 10-year operations and maintenance contract. The Legacy Way Tunnel is part of the capital of Queensland's infrastructure plan to improve traffic and connections between the city's metropolitan areas and aimed at extending the city. Total investment in the project comes to 1.5 billion Australian dollars (around 1.1 billion euros).
"The awarding of the Mundaring Water Treatment Plant extends our catalogue of products and services in Australia; it also consolidates our commitment as a local operator to contribute to sustainable development in Australia, delivering solutions for the infrastructure, energy and water needs for the country's economic growth and prosperity," Said Brett Thomas, ACCIONA's Australia-based Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region.

ACCIONA has offices in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.