SUEZ Group has announced a strengthening of its activities in France with the award and renewal of around 20 innovative contracts during the first half of the year, worth a total of €1 billion.

 

France is the Group’s historic home, where 30,000 employees are already implementing totally renewed resource management practices and supporting its customers in adopting a circular economy. “The Group today supplies drinking water to 11 million people in France, provides sanitation services for 14 million people and collects the waste produced by more than nine million inhabitants,” noted Marie-Ange Debon, Senior Executive VP of SUEZ Group, in charge of France, Italy and Central Europe. 

 

Major new water projects

 

New contracts awarded to SUEZ in France include:

 

• The collection and transportation of wastewater in the Hauts-de-Seine department. This 12-year contract, worth €387 million, will come into effect in January 2019. Over €100 million will be invested in the department’s sanitation facilities. The Group will also provide several innovations, including the development of a 3D digital model of the networks. A predictive network management tool will also be implemented to reduce discharges into the natural environment and to avoid the risk of flooding.

 

• Greater Avignon has chosen SUEZ to manage the drinking water service in eight municipalities. This 10-year contract, worth €80 million, will come into effect on 1 January 2019. The contract includes the introduction of progressive pricing, the improvement of network yield and the securing of drinking water supplies through works under the terms of the concession.

 

• Operation of the Rambervillers waste-to-energy plant in the Vosges department and the powering of a new heat network. Evodia has signed a 25-year contract with SUEZ – worth a total of €225 million, including total investments of €59 million for the modernisation of the plant and the powering of the new heat network. The facility will process 77,000 tonnes of waste from all over the Vosges department.

 

• Operation of the wastewater treatment plant of the Eurométropole of Strasbourg. The local authority has renewed its confidence in SUEZ for another five years and a total revenue of €75 million. In 2015, this facility was the first to inject biomethane from wastewater into the natural gas network, thus making it a nationwide showcase of the circular economy.

 

Digital solutions contracts

 

Beyond such high-profile projects, SUEZ has been awarded several contracts for new digital services and solutions, including:

 

• Management of the drinking water service and deployment of 58,000 On’Connect meters for the Durance Ventoux water syndicate in the Vaucluse department. The Group will modernise the water service and ensure the preservation of water resources in 28 municipalities between the Monts de Vaucluse and the Luberon for a 10-year contract, worth €70 million. 

 

• The support of Bordeaux Metropole in its urban cleaning contract (€10 million; five years) in the historical centre, which is the busiest district of the city. The Group developed a tailor-made solution, including the collection of residual household waste, collections from voluntary drop-off sites and cleaning services (roads, urban furniture, fountains, billboards, cigarette butts, etc.). This participating service, favouring a sustainable territory, will allow the city to become one of France’s top destinations, while making the cleanness of the district more visible and optimising costs.

 

• Supply of ‘ecowood’ containers equipped with smart sensors at the collection points for ships and companies operating in La Rochelle port. This six-year contract, worth €900,000, also provides for the maintenance of this equipment and the collection of household waste and hazardous waste that can be recovered. Watertight skips will also be supplied to collect the sludge from scraper equipment.

 

“These new contracts demonstrate the dynamism of the Group in France,” remarked Ms Debon. “Cities and industries are increasingly concerned about reducing the environmental footprint of their activities, and we take great pride in helping them to achieve this.”