The AMB ratifies the water concession in eight municipalities to Veolia for more than 1,000 million
The assignment of the contract now remains pending only on the usual justifications of economic and financial solvency
BarcelonaThe Metropolitan Council, the governing body of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB), has given the green light to the offer from the French multinational Veolia to supply water services to eight towns in Barcelona, with a contract worth more than 1 billion euros.
Thus, the organization has approved the classification order of the bids submitted in the tender procedure for the drinking water supply service for the municipalities of Cervelló, Corbera de Llobregat, Molins de Rei, la Palma de Cervelló, Ripollet, Sant Andreu de la Barca, Sant Cugat del Vallès, and Tiana. This means it ratifies the offer from Veolia, the main shareholder of Aigües de Barcelona, which presented the best technical offer with a total of 49 points, and the economic one, with 24.
La Caixa controls 5.1% of the French group's capital and at the same time 15% of Aigües de Barcelona –through Criteria, its investment holding company–, the same percentage held by the AMB.
With the Council's approval, Veolia must now present "the documentation necessary to accredit the technical and economic solvency required in the tender specifications". It will be once this documentation is presented and verified, and "provided it meets the established requirements", that "the proposal for the final awarding of the contract will be submitted for the consideration of the Metropolitan Council", in a meeting with no date yet set.
The French group, which defends its experience as an operator in the area, had to demonstrate that its offer, with a 60% reduction in unit prices in the investments section, which amounts to some 168 million euros, was not too low. The same had to be done by the joint venture (UTE) between Gestión y Técnicas del Agua, SA and Saur, and the joint venture between Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense, GS Inima Environment and Calaf Constructora, which also participated in the tender.
The decision of the metropolitan council was not unanimous. The plenary has 90 members. Voting in favor were the 47 members of the PSC, the representative of Vivim Montcada i Reixac and twelve from Junts (except Josep Maria Vallès and Cristina Paraira, from Sant Cugat). Abstaining were the eight representatives of ERC, the eight of the PP and the two from Junts in Sant Cugat. Voting against were the nine members of Comuns, and the ones from JuntsxTiana, Compromís and Acord per Torrelles, and Vox.
This tender is part of compliance with the ruling issued by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) in October 2020. The resolution recognized the AMB, in accordance with the powers attributed to it by its law of creation regarding the water cycle, as the competent administration to determine the model and management mechanisms of the service, as explained by the metropolitan administration itself.
25-year contract
The largest municipality included in the tender is Sant Cugat del Vallès. The contract amount rises to 1.078 billion euros and the expected duration is 25 years. The eight municipalities involved total about 230,000 inhabitants.
The French multinational already provides the water supply to Barcelona and 22 other municipalities in the metropolitan area, and was already providing the service in five of the municipalities in the tender. In addition to Veolia, six bids from companies or groups of companies were submitted for the tender.