Veolia wins the management contract for water and wastewater services for the Riyadh region of 9 million people.
The National Water Company has awarded Veolia the management contract for water and wastewater services in the capital Riyadh and 22 outlying municipalities. The seven-year contract represents revenues of €82.6 million, covering a population of nearly 9 million people which is expected to double by 2030. The contract covers the management of a 30,000km drinking water network and a 10,000km wastewater network, with a large number of production and treatment units.
Veolia, together with Saudi Arabia’s Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies, will take on the operational and technical challenge of developing water services in Riyadh and its region and is committed to a series of objectives. These include halving losses in the water distribution network, ensuring continuity of service and access to quality drinking water 24 hours a day, and implementing a training programme for more than 5,000 local employees.
In addition, Veolia has signed a strategic agreement with the Ministry of Investment and Water Transmission and Technologies Company. Under this new partnership, Veolia will support the Kingdom in improving the operational, energy and commercial performance of the water sector throughout the country. This cooperation will focus on the deployment of innovative solutions, including digital ones, and on building skills in the operation and maintenance of facilities.
Veolia is also a partner of Saudi Aramco for the treatment of its industrial and ono-hazardous waste. Estimated at 200,000 metric tons per year, this will be in addition to the 120,000 metric tons of hazardous wase that will soon be treated in Jubail, where Veolia is finalising the construction of an incinerator for Sadara Chemical Company and other nearby industrial companies.
With its presence in Saudi Arabia, where the group has been operating for more than 35 years in the water, waste and energy sectors for both municipal and industrial clients, Veolia continues to increase its contribution the ecological transformation of the Kingdom in line with its Vision 2030 plan.
On the sidelines of the second Franco-Saudi investment forum held in Jeddah on 4 Dec 2021, Antoine Frérot, chairman and CEO of Veolia, said: “The strong commercial momentum Veolia has experienced in Saudi Arabia in recent years, as evidenced by the recent signing of several municipal and industrial contracts in all of our business lines, is a clear indicator of the Kingdom’s desire to achieve the ambitious environmental objectives it has set for itself. In this context, Veolia is proud to be Saudi Arabia’s preferred partner for its ecological transformation.”
