• The 26-year concession includes the construction of two wastewater treatment plants, 16 pumping systems and associated pipe networks.
  • The public-private project represents and investment of 420 million reais (around 97 million euros).

ACCIONA Agua has been awarded the end-to-end management of the sanitation system of Divinopólis, in the State of Minas Gerais (southeastern Brazil), for a contract value of around 420 million reais (around 97 million euros). The project is of the PPP (Public Private Partnership)type on an equal basis with Copasa, the joint enterprise responsible for the management of water supplies and sanitation in the State, a formula that is increasingly used in the development of water infrastructures in Latin America.

ACCIONA Agua −in a consortium with local companies GEL Engenharia and FB Participaciones− will carry out the design, construction and start-up of two wastewater treatment stations, 16 pumping stations for the system and the construction of a wastewater pipe network for the city. The contract covers the operation and maintenance of the system for the next 26 years.

The biggest plant, which will have an initial capacity of 400 liters per second, will be increased over the concession period to 600 liters per second to provide a service to a population of 228,600. The installation will also have 67.8 kilometers of sewers and 6.1 kilometers of collector pipes.

ACCIONA strengthens its presence in Brazil with this contract. It started operations there in 1996 and now has a workforce of 2,000 people in the country in all its main business areas, as well as Water.

In July last year, the Secretary of State for the Environment in Rio de Janeiro awarded the company −in a consortium with the Brazilian companies Serveng and GEL− the contract to build the sanitation system in São Gonçalo, the second city in the State after Rio de Janeiro, for 117 million euros. The project, with a completion period of 36 months, includes the environmental recovery of the Alcântara and Mutondo river basins −the former gives its name to the project− and will serve an estimated population of 250,000.

Among other projects in Brazil, ACCIONA Agua previously carried out the redevelopment and improvement of the wastewater treatment plant at Arrudas (State of Minas Gerais), a facility that is currently operational.