An FCC Aqualia-led consortium has been awarded the tender for the design, construction and operation of the Abu Rawash treatment plant in El Cairo, Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Urban Planning made an official announcement of the awarding of the contract to the FCC Aqualia-led consortium via its subsidiary Aqualia New Europe, a company which is partially owned by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The winning consortium also comprises Orascom Construction Industries, Veolia and the local business ICAT.

Once fully operational, the plant will treat 1.6 million cubic metres of water daily and will provide service to 5.5 million people, making it one of the largest treatment plants worldwide. The business portfolio for the consortium, worth €2.4 billion euros , makes it the largest contract awarded in the history of the water management subsidiary of FCC.

The water management subsidiary of FCC Group is leading the consortium on the financing, design, construction and operation for a 25-year period. The build-operate-transfer contract involves an investment of more than €500 million and expected total revenue throughout the concession reaching €2.4 billion. The project has solid financial backing from the EBRD, the World Bank and the Egyptian Bank.

 The scope of the investment works includes the expansion of the biological treatment facilities in the current primary treatment plant with a capacity for 1.2 million cubic metres and the scaling-up to 1.6 million cubic metres of water treated daily.

 The Abu Rawash contract forms part of an ambitious action plan on water and sanitation issues being implemented by the Government of Egypt.

This is the second large-scale project that FCC Aqualia has carried out in Egypt - in 2010 it was awarded the design, construction and operation of the wastewater treatment plant in New Cairo for a period of 20 years - the first contract that was awarded in the country for a collaborative public-private partnership (PPP).

Spanish- headquartered FCC Aqualia specialiseS in the design, construction and operation of all types of sanitation infrastructure and operates 320 wastewater treatment plants in four continents.

It currently provides service to 1,100 towns in 22 countries in Europe, the Middle East, South America, China and India.

In the last financial year, the water management subsidiary of FCC logged a turnover of €950 million and achieved a record business portfolio of more than €14 billion.