Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/827133
6 The Quarterly June 2017 Water. desalination + reuse What happened? Who covered it? Why does it matter? France Suez and CDPQ swoop on GE Water French water company beats all the rest with €3.2 billion takeover bid Saudi Arabia Abengoa and Fisia Italimpianti win Shoaiba III contract The pair formed a joint venture to win the €240 million desalination project Saudi Arabia Doosan of South Korea clinches deal Doosan Heavy Industries is to build fourth desalination plant at Shoaiba World Water Day Parties set out water agendas New ideas on project governance are put forward in two special reports published on World Water Day 2017 All the major European, US, and global business press covered the deal, from Le Figaro to Bloomberg to the Financial Times and Reuters. Suez's line was very much about opportunity in the industrial water business, which it expects to grow at five per cent a year. "Governments are saying to industries: 'You can operate here but you can't take water from underground." Suez chief executive Jean-Louis Chaussade to the Financial Times. The story was picked up in the Spanish and Italian business press. Milano Finanza reported that Abengoa and infrastructure group Salini Impreglio, through subsidiary Fisia Italimpianti, have formed a 50-50 joint venture to deliver the project. "We are one of the few able to design and build thermal and membrane-based systems". A Salini statement, quoted by Milan Finanza Global trade press for the water and construction sectors, as well as South Korean and Middle East regional media covered the deal, which marks a return to desalination work in Saudi Arabia for Doosan a er it completed Yanbu phase three seawater desalination plant project in 2012. The contract is worth KRW 470 billion ($422 million) and is for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work on a 400,000 m3/d seawater RO plant. Two comprehensive reports addressing the challenges of access to and provision of water services were published to coincide with World Water Day on 22 March 2017. Although not widely covered in press, their scope reflects the water sector's awareness of the need to frame the challenges accurately, as well as to provide knowledge and guidance. Suez is forming a new company focusing specifically on industrial markets, in a joint venture with Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), the Canadian pension fund manager. The joint venture is expected to generate 14 per cent of Suez total annual revenues, or about €2,509 million. The new business is 70 per cent owned by Suez, and 30 per cent by CDPQ. The move marks a change in the dynamics of the water business, on the one hand enabling Suez-GE Water to leverage one another's strengths, and on the other, reducing the potential number of competitors bidding for projects. A er a tough 2016 negotiating with financiers, Abengoa successfully completed a financial restructuring on 31 March 2017. The company has put water at the core of its strategy for the future, and the Shoaiba III contract win is a significant milestone. The contract for 250,000 m3/d of RO capacity is worth an estimated €240 million ($257 million). Page 8 South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries continues to cement its reputation as one of the world's leading desalination EPC and operations and maintenance (O&M) companies for thermal and membrane-based desalination. In April, it dominated the desalination categories at GWI Global Water Awards 2017, scooping the Desalination Company of the Year Award for reaching "a new peak of success in 2016 for its membrane business, while pushing the boundaries of contracting quality," the judges said. Water Futures — Water, Energy, and Agriculture to 2035, from MWH Global, now part of Stantec, delineates the impact of climate change and urbanisation on access to water, and points to an estimated global funding requirement for water infrastructure of up to $90 trillion to 2035. A New Model for Water Access — A Global Blueprint for Innovation, from the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Water states that the cost of inadequate access to water amounts to $323 billion. The Quarterly