Vol 10, Issue 1 (January 2009)

Need to know

• BANKABILITY

  * Israel has announced the largest project yet in its desalination programme – a 411,000m3/d plant at Soreq (see story p17).

• EX-IMANIA

  * With the international commercial banks still unwilling to lend money to the Gulf, the race is on to find the most accommodating bi-lateral state lender

• RE-USABLE

  * The big news at GWI this month is the launch of Water Reuse Tracker (see p47).

• SEA GOD

  * Across the pond, the scramble to get projects into Obama’s stimulus package is on (see story p25).

• TARIFF-IC NEWS

  * China’s Guangzhou Urban Construction Commission has voted for an 80% increase in wastewater tariffs.

• THE WEATHER CHANNEL

  * Continuing droughts around the world look set to keep water on the agenda in 2009.

Analysis

• 2009 and all that

  Christopher Gasson gives his perspective on the year to come.

• Proposed water reuse projects by region (capacity m3/d)-CHART

  This month’s chart is drawn from our new Water Reuse Tracker, which starts on page 47.

• Insight - David Lloyd Owen

  How the recession, competition and politics will drive the sector in 2009.

General

• A long time between drinks

  A new benchmark from United Utilities has repriced the bond market for UK water companies. Thames, meanwhile,is gearing up for a debut Euro-denominated deal.

• Asian water investment bubble bursts

  After the dizzy highs of 2007, Asian water stocks haemorrhaged in 2008, showing the greatest regional decline. What are the chances for recovery in 2009?

• Australia overhauls its outback plumbing

  The expansion of exploration and mining activities in Australia will depend on water from the threatened Great Artesian Basin. Achieving long-term sustainability is vital, argues Max Borchardt.

• Beyond end-user footprints: the next step along the road

  The director of a new initiative is keen to avoid the inconsistencies that have plagued carbon footprinting. Kathy Shandling investigates.

• Billing accomplices: Guangzhou tariff rise attracts controversy

  Wastewater tariffs in Guangzhou are to increase by 80%, amid allegations of murky costing practices. GWI’s China Editor Kathy Liu reports.

• Brazilians slip, despite sound fundamentals

  The shares of the listed Brazilian water companies fell in line with the market last year. Access to capital will prove a key driver for future investment flows.

• Germans refuse to rock the boat

  German energy and water federation BDEW is predicting steady investment flows over the next two years. It should help to avoid sudden tariff shocks.

• In defence of US water utilities

  Robust performances at the three largest quoted US water utilities helped the sector to outperform in 2008. SouthWest Water, meanwhile, is fighting to maintain its Nasdaq listing.

• Indian power equipment market on the boil

  Ambitious growth in India’s power sector is intensifying competition in the condensate polishing plant market. GWI’s India correspondent Rama Rastogi reports.

• Israel’s desal desperation

  Israel is planning its largest desal plant yet in an attempt to face off thelong-term drought. It has also revived plans for a facility at Shomrat.

• Moroccan capital eyes greater reuse capacity

  A new study into water reuse in Rabat could broaden the city’s water resourcing options. Further inland, Marrakech has already seen the light.

• Ofwat cuts company investment plans by £8bn

  In its first review of AMP5 draft business plans, Ofwat has proposed that companies spend £8 billion less than they asked for. New climate change data will provide further clarity.

• Proof that dry sludge can give you gas

  A Connecticut city is seeking to turn dried sludge pellets into energy. It is the latest advance in the water/energy nexus, as Kathy Shandling discovers.

• Reuse: the new Spanish growth story

  The economic crisis is the only thing preventing a boom in Spanish water reuse. Its growth potential now outstrips desalination.

• Sedapal eyes capital markets

  Sedapal’s debut bond issue is set to launch later this year. It could prove a key test of investor appetite ahead of a partial IPO.

• SembCorp strides ahead on Salalah

  The Singapore-based company has preferred bidder status on the Salalah IWPP in Oman. The project is under pressure to reach financial close in the first quarter.

• Spain’s consumption epidemic

  A national environment congress has raised the profile of water consumption in Spain. The current trends are worryingly unsustainable.

• SRF-in’ USA: water and the stimulus package

  The proportion of the US stimulus package which will find its way into water is not likely to be large, nor the funds well distributed. Nevertheless, the idea of free money from Washington must not be allowed to take hold.

• The end of blue-sky valuations

  After a poor performance in 2008, European water stocks may well have bottomed out. The new environment has created some interesting investment opportunities.

• The man with the basin plan

  Science will prevail over politics now that control of the Murray-Darling Basin has finally been transferred to the Australian government.

• US equipment suppliers feel the heat

  Despite widespread declines, infrastructure optimism in the US propelled some water equipment suppliers forward in 2008. Is now the time to take profits?

• Water washed away with the market (Part 1)

  Water stocks offered little defence against the financial melt-down in 2008, but regulated utilities and US infrastructure stocks outperformed enough to keep the GWI Global Water Index ahead of the MSCI World Index.

• Water washed away with the market (Part 2)

  Water stocks offered little defence against the financial melt-down in 2008, but regulated utilities and US infrastructure stocks outperformed enough to keep the GWI Global Water Index ahead of the MSCI World Index.

Brief

• In Brief - Americas

  * SouthWest Water Company has rescinded its contract with the city of Discovery Bay, CA, following two sewage spills and subsequent fines in July and December of last year.

• In Brief - Asia

  * Rogelio Singson, president of Maynilad Water, has ruled out an IPO only a year after bullishly predicting it could happen as early as the fourth quarter of 2008.

• In Brief - Europe

  * Suez Environnement subsidiary Lyonnaise des Eaux has signed a €220 million 20-year concession with the Syndicat intercommunal d’assainissement du bassin cannois (SI.ABC) in France for the construction and operation of a carbon neutral wastewater reuse plant.

• In Brief - Middle East

  * The banks arranging the debt for two wastewater treatment plants in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain have put a bridging facility in place so that developers Veolia and Besix can start construction on schedule.