Toulouse Métropole has selected Suez for a contract to manage its wastewater public service for the next 12 years, which is worth a total of €520m.
Image: Suez wins contract to maintain water and wastewater plants in French métropole. Photo: Courtesy of Jan Mocnak/FreeImages.com
The contract will come into effect from 1 January 2020 and Suez will manage all the 17 wastewater treatment plants and 3,700km of wastewater networks in the Métropole’s 37 municipalities.
Suez plans to invest €100m in treatment plants and networks to increase treatment capacity and protect infrastructure.
The company has pledged to hand over more than €100m worth of services to more than 70 of its local partners. Furthermore, 178,000 hours of work will be allocated to long-term unemployed people in the entire duration of the contract. This amounts to the equivalent of ten full-time employees.
The company stated that this service will be provided by a dedicated company placed under métropole’s supervision, under the terms of open and transparent governance. A monitoring committee with representatives of civil society (environmental associations, user associations and the scientific community) will be set up.
Suez plans to inject 58GWh/year of biomethane produced from sewage sludge back into the gas network, which is equal to the annual consumption of a town with 20,000 inhabitants. The Suez’s contract will lead to the production of 25% more energy at Ginestous-Garonne wastewater treatment plant.
Besides, it will result in the production of 10GWh/year of heat which will be used to run plants and heat premises and of 1GWh/year of electricity from 11,000m2 of solar panels.
Suez France, Italy and Central Europe Group Senior Executive vice president Marie-Ange Debon said: “Suez is proud to support Toulouse Métropole in its energy transition through innovative solutions that can anticipate the impacts of urbanisation and climate change. Through its wastewater service, SUEZ is actively committing to creating resources and value for the 750,000 inhabitants of this exceptional region.”