Vol 7, Issue 4 (April 2006)

Need to know

• CONQUISTADORS

  * The tendering process for the 164,400m³/d desalination plant for Barcelona began last month.

• MERGERS AND DEMERGERS

  * American Water has a new CEO and a new determination to pursue an IPO rather than a private equity led buy-out as its preferred exit from its German parent RWE. The new man in charge is Don Correll, a seasoned expert in regulatory warfare (see story p18).

• STOCK PICKS

  * To celebrate World Water Day, UBS in London published a research note on the water sector entitled Liquid Gold.

• THINKING BIG

  * Can IWPPs get any bigger after Taweelah B and Shoaiba? The answer is yes.

Analysis

• CHART OF THE MONTH

  Demand for world water treatment products is forecast to increase 5.9% per year to $40 billion by the end of 2009, according to a new study by Freedonia Group.

• Hats off to Hyflux

  The Palm Water episode suggests to Christopher Gasson that good deals are more important than good engineering or good finance.

• Insight - David Lloyd Owen

  Cleantech and Green Stocks: Déjà vu?

• Letter to the Editor

  Veolia Water North America takes issue with our contract ops survey.

General

• Ajman refinancing closed

  Formerly reduced construction can now proceed at full steam.

• Algeria to boost desal capacity

  An extra 400,000m³/d of desal is planned. It is desperately needed.

• Cadagua’s voice of experience

  Cadagua is the market leader in Spain, but competition is hotting up, and despite the company’s conservative instincts, it is looking abroad for growth. Antonio Casado talks to Richard Weyndling.

• Christ: the last water pureplay

  The Swiss water treatment company would be a perfect fit for GE or Siemens, but chief executive Karl Michael Millauer has other plans.

• Don Correll takes the helm at American

  Larry Chertoff profiles the US water industry veteran who has been given the job of taking American Water public.

• Dry winters squeeze the South East

  A second year of below-average rainfall puts the focus on improving water efficiency – for water companies and their customers alike.

• Economic patriotism casts a shadow over United

  Larry Chertoff asks whether Suez’s corporate manoeuvres will have an impact on the outlook for its US subsidiary.

• EU concerned by Spanish desal delays

  The environment ministry says the deadlines for funding will be met, but the projects are still behind schedule.

• German states wide apart on water policy

  The federal government wants to modernise the sector but the states are all going in different directions.

• Hyflux accentuates the positive as it pulls out of Palm Water EPC contract

  The Singapore company is to be replaced by ACWa Emirates to finish work on two desalination plants for the Palm Jumeirah. The Singapore-based company wants us to call it a “restructuring” rather than a “removal”.

• Hyflux’s Asian pursuits

  Hyflux has concluded an imaginative deal to finance its Chinese projects.

• Misery continues for GE Ionics in Trinidad

  A Canadian forensic investigator’s report on corruption in the awarding of the Point Lisas desalination plant contract is a big setback for GE Ionics as it tries to negotiate a deal with Wasa on tariffs and liquidated damages.

• Ras Azzour size confirmed

  Just how big can desal projects get? Ras Azzour will set a new benchmark.

Brief

• NEWS IN BRIEF – ASIA

  * Suez and the City of Chongqing signed an agreement on 4 April to create a 50/50 joint venture between the city’s water utility and Suez subsidiary Sino-French Water Development.

• NEWS IN BRIEF – LATIN AMERICA

  * The World Bank plans to grant Venezuela $200 million in loans over the next two years to modernise and extend its network of aqueducts and sewerage systems beyond the capital Caracas.

• NEWS IN BRIEF – MIDDLE EAST

  * Oman’s Ministry of National Economy (MNE) issued an addendum to the Sur RFP last month.

• NEWS IN BRIEF – MIDDLE EAST#2

  * The Jordanian government has revived the longstanding Disi-Amman water conveyor project.

Market insight

• Making sense of Mexico City

  Therese Nicklasson and Robin Rotman report on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals from the Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico City.