The AMB ratifies the water concession for 8 municipalities to Veolia for more than 1,000 million

BarcelonaThe Metropolitan Council has approved the ranking order of the bids submitted in the tender procedure for the drinking water supply service in 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 bid from the French multinational Veolia, the main shareholder of Aigües de Barcelona and with La Caixa as a shareholder with 5.1%, which presented the best technical offer with a total of 49 points, and the economic one, with 24.

Veolia, which also has La Caixa's investment company, Criteria, as a shareholder in Aigües de Barcelona with 15% and the AMB itself with another 15%, must now present "the documentation necessary to prove the technical and economic solvency required in the specifications." It will be once this documentation is presented and verified and, "provided it meets the established requirements, the proposal for the final awarding of the contract will be submitted for the consideration of the Metropolitan Council," in a meeting yet to be scheduled.

The group, which defends its experience as an operator in the area, has had to demonstrate that its offer, with a 60% reduction in unit prices in the investment section, which amounts to about 168 million euros, was not too low. The same had to be done by the joint venture UTE Gestión y Técnicas del Agua, SA and SAUR, SAS; and the joint venture UTE Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense, SA, GS Inima Environment, SAU and Calaf Constructora, SAU, which also participated in the tender.

This tender is part of the compliance with the judgment 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 founding law regarding the water cycle, as the competent administration to determine the model and management mechanisms of the service, according to the AMB.

The largest municipality included in the tender is Sant Cugat del Vallès, to which are added Cervelló; Corbera de Llobregat; Molins de Rei; la Palma de Cervelló; Ripollet; Sant Andreu de la Barca and Tiana. The value of the contract amounts to 1.078 billion euros and the expected duration is 25 years. The municipalities involved total about 230,000 inhabitants.

The French multinational already provides the water supply to Barcelona and 22 municipalities in the metropolitan area and was already doing so in five of the municipalities in the tender. In addition to Veolia, six bids were submitted to the tender by companies or groups of companies: the joint venture (UTE) formed by FCC Aqualia and Aguas de Valencia (Global Omnium); the UTE of Gestión y Técnicas del Agua and Saur; the UTE of Constructora de Calaf and Sociedad de Fomento Agrícola Castellonense; the UTE of Indaqua and Hidrogestión; and Sacyr Agua.