Acciona-led consortium to operate Barcelona desalination

Barcelona’s two seawater desalination plants will now be managed by a consortium led by Spanish desalination contractor Acciona Agua and the Brazilian bank BTG Pactual.

Acciona announced a deal with the Generalitat de Cataluña, the Catalonian regional government, on 6 November 2012 for the concession to manage Aigües Ter Llobregat, the company that manages the upstream water supply for Barcelona, the metropolitan area and nine nearby districts, a population of nearly 5 million.

The two desalination plants are the 200,000 m³/d Prat de Llobregat and the 200 million m³/year Tordera facilities. Acciona already operates desalination plants in Perth and Adelaide, Australia; Tampa, USA; and Beckton, UK.

Acciona Agua and BTG Pactual both have 39% of the new consortium for the 50-year concession, while several minority stake companies represent private investors.