Water : Ondeo (SUEZ) signs a €200 million urban wastewater contract in South Korea

Ondeo (SUEZ) today announced it has signed a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) contract with the County of Yangju, in the outskirts of Seoul, for the construction and management of wastewater installations. This contract is the very first of its type to be awarded to a foreign company.

This 24 year contract covers the financing, construction and management of three sewage plants with a total daily capacity of 75 000 m³ and an 85 km collecting network. Investment costs for this BOT represent 80 million euros with turnover estimated at 200 million euros over the contract’s duration.

Faced with the need to modernise public infrastructures throughout the country, the Korean authorities recently launched an ambitious programme to encourage increased private sector participation in the utilities sector. The Yangju contract is the first example of a long-term public-private partnership in the water sector. It will bring together the combined management and financial expertise of Ondeo Services with the engineering and water treatment know-how of Ondeo Degrémont. Gérard Payen, Ondeo Chairman and CEO, declared: « We are delighted to assist the South Korean authorities in their ambitious efforts to improve water quality in urban areas. By calling upon Ondeo’s expertise on a long-term basis, this contract paves the way for additional public-private partnerships to find effective solutions to existing water issues in the country ».

Ondeo is already well implanted in South Korea through its subsidiaries Ondeo Services and Ondeo Degrémont that offer construction, operating, treatment and water management services. Since the 80s, approximately 20% of water produced in Seoul and 80% of water produced in Busan comes from installations built by Ondeo Degrémont. These two largest conglomerations in Korea count over 20 million inhabitants. As for the industrial water market, Ondeo Nalco is the leading water treatment and process chemicals reference in South Korea with turnover in 2000 of 25 million US$.

ONDEO currently serves more than 24,5 million customers in the Asia Pacific region. Already present in China, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, ONDEO hereby strengthens its presence in Asia and reinforces its position as the world’s leading provider of water related services. SUEZ revenues for the Asia Pacific region came to
1.62 billion euros in 2000.

Ondeo is the premier water-related solution provider, supplying 115 million consumers with water and wastewater services, providing services to 60,000 industrial customers, and has built more than 10,000 water treatment plants world-wide. Ondeo comprises 4 main companies: Ondeo Services, Ondeo Nalco, Ondeo Degrémont and Ondeo Industrial Solutions. Ondeo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SUEZ.



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