Vol 9, Issue 11 (November 2008)

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Need to know

  • A QUANTUM OF SOLACE

    Finally, an enlightened and perverse mind has found the way to become shamefully rich in the water industry.

  • AWAY FROM IT ALL

    If you wanted to avoid the credit crunch this month, the place to be was the Saudi Water and Power Forum in Jeddah.

  • CRUNCHED

    * Veolia did its best to destroy the reputation of the water industry as a safe haven in troubled times by issuing its second profit warning of the year just ahead of its third quarter results.

  • DESAL DEVELOPMENTS

    * If there is a concern about water projects in the Kingdom, it is about the future of the King Abdullah Economic City,which is being developed by Emaar of Dubai.

  • REGIME CHANGE

    * Until Obama has named his nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency, it is difficult to double-guess his policy towards the water sector.

  • TRIPOLI SEES THE LIGHT

    Things seem to be moving ahead in Libya, both on the water supply front and the desalination front.

Analysis

General

  • A bridge over power and water

    The lenders on Shuweihat 2 are proposing a short-term bridging loan to keep the IWPP on track. The margin is twice that originally proposed.

  • A cure for FEWA

    FEWA’s restructuring signals a shift in focus towards distribution.

  • A lotta water on the ballot

    American voters were not just choosing a president on 4th November. USD12bn of infrastructure funding was also at stake, writes Kathy Shandling.

  • And then there were two…

    The merger of Enìa and Iride was signed on 30 October. Disagreements over the balance of power may have precipitated Hera’s exit from the merger.

  • Assessing the state of the industry

    AWWA has released the fifth in its series of annual “State of the Industry” reports. Kathy Shandling looks back at how views have changed since 2004, and what concerns the industry has for the future.

  • Australia’s growing desal dependence

    A new report outlines just how much Australia is willing to spend in order to fuel its growing dependence on desalination. The advent of a carbon offset tax will add an extra dimension.

  • CH2M Hill’s designs on the future

    Over the past five years, CH2M Hill’s water business group has increased threefold the proportion of its revenues generated from abroad. Group president Bob Bailey talks to GWI about how to sustain that growth.

  • Court ruling threatens wastewater charges

    The definition of wastewater charges as tariffs rather than taxes could mean that millions of Italian customers claim refunds on their water bills.

  • Cross-border leasing deals feel the pinch

    The credit crisis has hit town halls throughout Germany, as municipalities struggle to re-negotiate cross-border leasing deals originally conceived as a tax wheeze.

  • Hanoi looks to decentralised wastewater

    Rapid growth has forced the Vietnamese capital to look into implementing a decentralised wastewater system. A German research team is leading the initiative.

  • Hibernation or hide and seek?

    The financial crisis has sent Chinese water companies into hibernation. Despite the government’s new stimulus package, it will still weed out the weaker players, argues GWI’s China editor Kathy Liu.

  • Honour and glory

    Emma Welsh seeks nominations for the 2009 Global Water Awards.

  • HSBC secures a slice of KAEC

    The role of financial advisor on the utility infrastructure work for Saudi Arabia’s mega-city has gone to HSBC. BOO tenders are expected in 2009.

  • Instant desal market comes of age

    Temporary seawater desalination plants look set to become a permanent fixture of the water industry as matching water supply and demand becomes an ever greater challenge.

  • Israeli government to kick-start Ashdod

    The financing of the Ashdod desalination plant is in jeopardy. The Israeli finance ministry has been asked to step in to minimise further delays.

  • Learning lessons from the parched

    After rejecting a local recycled water scheme in 2006, the Australian city of Toowoomba now plans to extract water directly from the local aquifer. Until, that is, it is forced to drink its neighbours’ recycled water in 2010.

  • Lobby group calls for Scottish Water privatisation

    A privatised Scottish Water would free up £180 million for infrastructure spending each year, argues CBI Scotland. It could help shorten the delays in the company’s delivery programme.

  • Peru seeks USD5bn for industrial wastewater treatment plants

    Having formulated a plan to involve the private sector in municipal plant construction, the Peruvian authorities are now looking to address problems on the industrial side. Leticia Lozano reports.

  • Philippines to leverage private sector funding

    Kathy Shandling investigates the potential of the latest sub-sovereign funding initiative to be signed – the Philippine Water Revolving Fund.

  • Qatar to boost reuse capacity

    Population growth in Qatar is driving the country’s wastewater expansion programme. Reuse is a key part of the equation.

  • Spanish U-turn over new water transfers

    The Spanish government is spurning desalination by showing support for two major water transfer schemes. Is it anything more than a political firework display?

  • Squaring the circle in Masdar

    The underlying aquifer provides the key to water cycle management in the Masdar City development. Desal and MBR elements are on offer.

  • Taking lessons from north of the border

    WICS chief executive Alan Sutherland has some advice for Ofwat on the subject of competition in water. He outlined his thoughts at a recent conference in London.

  • The battle for military supremacy

    American Water has re-affirmed its presence in the military services market with two big wins in two months. An impressive pipeline could tease out challengers to the market leaders.

  • The comeback kings of the water world

    Quoted water stocks reversed some of the losses they incurred last month, despite a profit warning from Veolia. Profitability challenges have put the company’s acquisition strategy on hold for the time being.

  • UK water bonds take the wrap again

    Fitch Ratings’ latest move means that more than £1.5 billion of UK water bonds are hanging on to their triple-A ratings by a thread. A downgrade has already been priced in.

  • Yanbu on the fast track as SWCC restarts privatisation

    The consultants appointed to oversee the sale of Saudi Arabia’s major power and water facilities are under pressure to announce the sale of the Yanbu production centre in the first quarter of next year.

Brief

  • In Brief - America

    * One year after announcing the initiative, the IADB and the government of Spain have established a new fund that will focus on improving water and sanitation delivery in Latin America and the Caribbean.

  • In Brief - Asia

    * China’s Shaanxi Province will invest RMB12 billion (USD96 million) in a diversion project to transfer 1.5 million m3 of water a year from the Han River to the Wei River.

  • In Brief - Europe

    * Private sector water firms operating in the Portuguese market have accused the government of giving privileged access to EU funding to publicly-owned Aguas de Portugal (AdP).

  • In Brief - Middle East

    * Alastair de Reuck has been appointed as the new CEO of Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (PWP), replacing Saleh bin Hamoud Al Rashdi who had been the acting CEO since 2007.