October 27 (SeeNews) - A consortium formed by Aqualia, FCC Construccion and Suez will modernise and expand the Glina wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Romania's capital Bucharest for a total of 113 million euro ($131 million).
The plant, which will serve 2.4 million inhabitants, represents the largest public sector water contract awarded in Europe this year, FCC Group, the parent company of FCC Construccion and Aqualia said in a press release on Friday.
Financed by European cohesion funds, the project is scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2019.
The expansion and improvement of the WWTP represents a significant technical challenge because it will be carried out while the current installations continue to operate. The work includes reforming the biological reaction lines, adapting 48 secondary clarifiers, building 24 new ones and the reconversion of the sludge line, FCC added.
For its part, Suez will build a plant for the re-use of the sludge from the WWTP with a treatment capacity of 173 tonnes of dry material daily. This plant will significantly reduce the total volume of sludge produced in the WWTP, using incineration technology and a process for recovering the energy generated as part of the electricity consumed in the process.
Suez is a leading French-based multinational corporation headquartered in Paris, with operations on all five continents primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management.
Aqualia is the water management division of Spanish group FCC, while FCC Construcción is its infrastructure division.
Aqualia built WWTPs in Romania's Agnita, Dumbraveni and Zimnicea cities. These projects are helping the country to reach the environmental objectives set by the Framework Water Directive and to approach the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations for 2030.
FCC Construcción has more than 12 years’ experience in Romania and is one of the most notable actors in the construction of transport infrastructure.
The projects currently being undertaken by FCC’s infrastructure area in Romania include the building of the superstructure and railway electrification, architecture and installations in tunnels and stations on line 5 of the Bucharest subway.
($= 0.8597 euro)