Water treatment and waste management company Suez Environnement S.A. has won a four-year contract to operate and maintain two of the wastewater treatment plants at Gabal El Asfar in Cairo, Egypt, in consortium with Egyptian companies DHCU, ARCOM and ICAT.
Under the terms of the deal, which is worth a total of EUR84 million ($96 million), the French company will be in charge of operating the facilities and ensuring that the water discharged into the environment is of the highest quality, to protect the canal water near the plant and in the Nile Delta.
The contract was awarded by Egypt's Construction Authority for Potable Water and Wastewater (CAPW).
Welcoming the agreement, Marie-Ange Debon, deputy chief executive officer of Suez Environnement in charge of its International Division, said: "Suez Environnement and its Egyptian partners are delighted to bring their expertise to Cairo to improve the water of the Nile. We are proud of the confidence shown by CAPW to operate the region's biggest wastewater treatment plant."
Gabal El Asfar is the largest wastewater treatment facility on the east bank of the Nile. According to Suez Environnement, it has a processing capacity of more than 1,400,000 cubic meters per day, including a cogeneration plant fuelled by anaerobic sludge digestion that produces up to 65% of the power needed to run the facility.
Through its subsidiary Degrémont, Suez Environnement has had a presence in Egypt since 1948.