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New Strategies Emerge in Oman Desal Tender
On 20 March 2015, Oman Power and Water Procurement Co (OPWP) released a list of 12 consortiums, including 22 companies, with statements of qualifications to bid on the Barka and Sohar independent water project (IWP) tenders. The two plants are slated for commissioning by 2018, adding 530,000 m3/d of new desalination capacity to OPWP’s current 670,000 m3/d of installed supply. OPWP has announced plans to leverage private water sector investments for as much as US$1.8 billion by 2020 or an estimated 630,000 m3/d. This investment will include the Qurayyat, Sohar, and Barka plants.
In addition to the announced project tenders, OPWP signed a water purchase agreement with Singapore-based Hyflux on 25 March 2015 for the development, construction, and operations of a seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant at Qurayyat. The agreement includes a 209,000 m3/d plant with a 20-year O&M agreement from 2017 to 2037.
Colombia Wastewater Draws Heavy Competition
On 4 May 2015, Abiensa, Abengoa’s EPC group, announced two awards in Colombia totaling US$32 million. The US$23 million water treatment and supply system for the city of Yopal will provide 67,000 m3/d of water. The second contract is for a US$9 million, 14,000 m3/d wastewater treatment plant in the municipality of Madrid. Abiensa will be responsible for the design, construction, assembly, and commissioning of the facilities.
The awards are significant as Colombia, under a national initiative to address wastewater pollution impacting its rivers, proceeds with bidding for three large wastewater plants totaling 1.8 million m3/d of new capacity, with tenders scheduled in 2015-2016.
Bogota’s US$400 million El Salitre wastewater treatment plant upgrade is currently in the pre-qualification review phase. The pool of bidders has been reduced to four consortia from an original list of 18 bidding companies. Once awarded– planned for second half of 2015– the winning consortium will have 36 months to complete the work. The largest, Canoas WWTP in Bogota expected to add 1.2 million m3/d, is due to be tendered in 2016. The 345,000 m3/d Cañaveralejo WWTP in Cali will be tendered in late 2015.
What Is FOG and Why Is It Important?
Paul Kramer of Gresham, Oregon, joins The Water Values Podcast to discuss a subject too infrequently discussed: Fats, Oils and Grease, or FOG. Paul walks us through what FOG is and how it gets into th...Brazil Private Water Concessions: Contract Awards and Company Rankings, 2014-2015
This Data Insight discusses the currently volatile conditions influencing private water concessions in Brazil. Brazil’s private water market faces a mix of macroeconomic challenges such as drought in major metropolitan regions, currency devaluation, and increasing political risk that are impacting utilities across the country. However, new opportunities for private water players are emerging as competitive barriers are lowered.
This report builds on Bluefield’s 2014 Market Insight, Brazil Private Municipal Water Strategies & Outlook, which provides an in-depth analysis of emerging private water opportunities, company strategies and market drivers and inhibitors for investment in Brazil.
Drought Driving Greater Reliance on Wastewater Reuse in California
After four years of drought and mixed results from efforts to roll back water use, the scale of California's water crisis has brought the state to the brink of massive investments in water supply, inc...California Municipal Wastewater Treatment & Reuse
This Data Insight, California Municipal Wastewater Treatment & Reuse: Market Drivers, Trends, and Outlook, highlights key drivers and trends impacting greater deployment of reuse systems in the state that is confronting its fourth year of extreme drought.
California, which holds 28% of US municipal reuse capacity, has another 2.4 million m3/d of announced capacity additions in various stages of development. Indicating further potential to harness reclaimed water are the 479 operating wastewater treatment plants in California analyzed by Bluefield Research. Only 160 of the plants are outfitted with the capability to reuse wastewater effluent, wastewater flows.
A central focus of the report is the water & environmental policy landscape shaping the California wastewater reuse market going forward. At the forefront future change are 372 urban water suppliers in the state. These suppliers were recently mandated by Executive Order in April 2015 to reduce water usage by an average 25%. Urban water suppliers currently source 3% of their water from reclaimed sources.
This Data Insight highlights the following:
- Critical water & environmental policies shaping the California wastewater reuse market going forward.
- Identification and analysis of planned projects and their impact on market growth.
- Analysis of more than 479 existing projects, including reused water application, capacity, reuse vs. disposal rates, and location
- The outlook for advanced water treatment technologies and primary drivers for their adoption.
Data Analyzed:
- State policies 2009 to present impacting municipal wastewater reuse
- 479 municipal wastewater treatment plants
- Wastewater flows by county
- Reclaimed water use by sector & region
- 372 water supplier plans, 2010-2035
- 85 planned municipal wastewater reuse systems– upgrades, expansions, and greenfield
- Analysis of wastewater flows from 50 ocean outfalls
Non-Revenue Water and Its Misperception
Steve Cavanaugh, President and CEO of Cavanaugh and Associates, joins The Water Values Podcast to discuss an important yet misperceived area of water utilities: non-revenue water. Steve describes what...Bluefield Research Releases European Private Water Utility Rankings
Bluefield Research today announced its 2015 Europe Private Water Utility Rankings, highlighting the region's top 25 leading private utilities serving more than 156 million people across the continent....Europe Private Water Utility Rankings: Markets & Company Strategies
Bluefield’s report, Europe Private Water Utility Rankings: Markets & Company Strategies, details the impacts of economic, policy, and competitive shifts on company strategies and market trends. These factors have created a unique competitive environment in Europe in which leading players are solidifying their core market positions through complementary acquisitions while weighing heavily opportunities to expand abroad.
This deliverable provides in-depth analysis of Europe’s leading utilities by revenue, water volume supplied, and population served. The report also highlights the region’s top 25 leading private utilities which serves more than 156 million people across the continent.
The top 25 national utilities with some degree of private ownership represent $36 billion in annual revenue, and serve just over 30% of the European Union’s population. Europe has seen minor shifts in terms of the level of private participation but has been stable at around 30% in terms of population served since a wave of privatization in the 1990s.
Key features include:
- Critical policies and drivers shaping private investment in European water utilities
- Historical evolution of European utilities and private investment trends
- Competitive landscape of private water utilities markets, including rankings of key players, M&A activity, and analysis of entrenched and emerging asset owners
- Company profiles and portfolio analysis of 25 companies, including key concession assets, European footprint, population served, performance characteristics, ownership structure, and recent activities
Data Analyzed:
- Period analyzed: 2013-2014
- 25 Water Utilities and Owners / Investors by Ownership Stake
- Top Private Water Utilities by Volume Supplied
- Top Private Water Utilities by Population Served
- Top Private Water Utilities by Revenues
- Private / Mixed Supplied Drinking Water by Country (%)
- Key Utility Concession New Wins, Renewals, Expirations
- M&A Activity by Utility
Antofagasta Deal Elevates EPM Water Expansion
On 23 April 2015, Colombian utility group Grupo EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) agreed to purchase Chilean water utility Aguas de Antofagasta (ADASA) for US$965 million from Antofagasta Plc—pending closure by the end of May. EPM is a municipal-owned enterprise of Medellín, Colombia and owns electricity, drinking water, sanitation and gas network positions in five other Latin America countries.
ADASA holds a 30-year concession, expiring in 2033, for water supply and sanitation services in seven municipalities within Antofagasta, the country’s mining heartland. ADASA supplies 18.5% of its total annual water production to the mining sector, representing 35% of its revenue. Antofagasta Plc is primarily a copper mining firm, and the deal raises cash for the company at a time when commodity prices have fallen 10% while transferring municipal water assets to a more experienced water utility player.
EPM plans to invest US$1.5 billion in water, or 28% of its total investment plan, between 2014 and 2017. The firm entered the Chilean market in 2013 through the acquisition of Los Cururos wind farm. Since then it has sought to build its country presence in water. EPM has operated as a wastewater BOT firm in Mexico since 2013 through the acquisition of Tecnología Intercontinental SA (Ticsa).
