The French multinational Veolia has been awarded the contract from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona to supply water to eight municipalities, including Sant Cugat del Vallès, for the next 25 years. The contract is valued at €1.078 billion and serves 230,000 residents.
The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) has awarded Veolia the contract for the supply of drinking water to eight municipalities in the metropolitan area, a service that the French multinational was already providing. The agreement, which will extend over the next 25 years, is valued at €1.078 billion and affects a population of 230,000 residents.
Among the municipalities included in the contract are Sant Cugat del Vallès, as well as Cervelló, Corbera de Llobregat, Molins de Rei, la Palma de Cervelló, Sant Andreu de la Barca, and Tiana. The award was announced this Thursday following the evaluation of the economic part of the tender, after it was revealed on Tuesday that Veolia had received the highest score in the technical phase.
The company, which owns Aigües de Barcelona and has CriteriaCaixa as a shareholder with 5.1% of the capital, achieved 49 points out of 49 in the technical assessment, well ahead of the second-best offer, which scored 45 points. The other competitors scored below 42 points.
The technical evaluation assessed four main areas: organisation and management of the service (15 points), operational plan including management, conservation, innovation, and communication (23 points), environmental improvements such as reduction of water and electricity consumption (6 points), and social improvements (5 points).
The economic part, which accounted for 40 points of the remaining 51, was also favourable to Veolia. The most relevant factor was the price reduction of investments, which carried a weight of 24 points, followed by the financial cost of assets pending amortisation (10 points) and overhead costs (6 points).
Six bids were submitted for the tender, including those from FCC Aqualia alongside Aguas de Valencia, Gestión y Técnicas del Agua with Saur, Constructora de Calaf with Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense, Indaqua with Hidrogestión, and Sacyr Agua, in addition to Veolia's bid.
The award still needs to go through a period of appeals, during which the companies that were not awarded can submit challenges. Subsequently, the Metropolitan Council of the AMB, its highest governing body, must ratify the decision. The administrative process is expected to conclude in September, at which point Veolia's continuation of service will be formalised.
Veolia is the largest European company in the water sector following the acquisition of its French competitor Suez, which owned Agbar. This operation placed the Catalan company under Veolia's control, which is also the main shareholder of Aigües de Barcelona.
For the residents of Sant Cugat del Vallès, the award means the continuity of service without immediate changes, as Veolia was already the company responsible for the supply. The company will maintain water management in the municipality for the next two and a half decades, under the same service conditions and with the improvements outlined in the operational plan of the tender.
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