ACCIONA to build a super shipyard in Brazil’s Açu port complex

The Company will bring home-grown technology to this €400m+ engineering and construction project.

The LLX-OSX companies (part of the Brazilian holding group, Grupo EBX) have awarded ACCIONA a contract for the engineering, design and construction of the breakwaters for a shipyard (Estaleiro) in São João da Barra, in Brazil. The shipyard will be the largest of its kind in Latin America and is set to become a benchmark in naval construction in Brazil. The project is worth more than 400 million euros.

ACCIONA's proposal includes home-grown technology for building the breakwaters using the caisson construction method. This is a pioneering initiative in Latin America and this innovation feature was a key factor in the decision to award the project to ACCIONA.

ACCIONA has used this system-based on the construction of artificial docks with large (66m x24m x 21m) concrete blocks- repeatedly and successfully in the past, in ports projects in Algeciras, Tarragona, Escombreras and El Ferrol, all of them in Spain. The project called for the Kugira floating dock to sail from Spain to the site of the works, where it will manufacture the blocks required for building the breakwaters. The project envisages the construction of more than 3.8 kilometers of breakwater -2.8km will be made artificially using concrete blocks.

The Estaleiro is part of the Açu super-port, a project backed by the EBX group of companies. Açu envisages two port terminals: "TX1", with a 3km access bridge, and "TX2", with 14 kilometers of docks, both aimed at providing the best possible access for large cargo vessels.

The Açu shipyards place ACCIONA in the market for large-scale port projects in Latin America with a ground-breaking construction system that reduces considerably the need for materials used in traditional breakwater construction methods, as well as reducing the marine surface affected, resulting in minimum environmental impact. Moreover, thanks to prefabrication, the caisson system reduces schedules significantly and improves execution quality.

ACCIONA in Brazil

Brazil is a priority growth market for ACCIONA and its thrust for internationalization. The Company entered the country in 1996 and has undertaken a number of public and private sector projects, including: the remodeling of the La Luz railway station in Sao Paulo; the management and operation of the Lonrina-Warta-Cambé-Cambará highway (known as Econorte); the construction of Volkswagen Group's auto manufacturing plant in Resende, or the remodeling of the Vera Cruz Film Studios, the Julio Prestes railway station (which was turned into a concert hall) and the Martiniano de Carvalho building in Sao Paolo, now the Head Office for Telefonica.

Recent contracts awarded include one for the financing, recuperation, extension and running of the BR-393/RJ highway. The stretch, which runs parallel to the border separating the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro up to the Dutra highway (BR-116), is 200.4 kilometers long, and carries 5,500 vehicles a day. It is under concession for a 25 year period.

Also in 2009, ACCIONA stepped up its activities in Brazil when Copasa, the mixed company responsible for managing the supply and sanitation of the state of Minas Gerais, awarded ACCIONA an O&M contract for the Arrudas Wastewater Treatment Plant, in the Sabará region. The installation stretches over 64 hectares and has a treatment capacity for a population equivalent of 1.6 million inhabitants and 4.5 cubic meters of water per second. The contract is worth 25 million euros.