Tay wastewater scheme

TAY WASTEWATER SCHEME London, December 27 /PRNEWSWIRE/ - International Water, a 50% joint company between Bechtel Enterprises Holding, Inc. of the U.S. and Edison S.p.A. of Italy, is pleased to announce financial closure of the £100 million Tay Wastewater Scheme in Dundee and Angus, Scotland. NoSWA, the North of Scotland Water Authority, awarded this Private Finance Initiative contract to Catchment (Tay) Ltd., a special purpose company owned indirectly by IWL, United Utilities and Morrison Construction Ltd. The Catchment consortium will design, build, finance, and operate the project, for which construction work will be undertaken by a joint venture between Bechtel Limited and Morrison Construction. The 28-year operation and maintenance contract will be undertaken by Caledonian Water, a subsidiary of United Utilities. "We recognise the importance of the Tay Wastewater scheme, which is regarded as one of the most ambitious civil engineering projects ever undertaken in the North of Scotland", said Didier Quint, Managing Director of International Water. "We are pleased that Catchment will be able to continue the successful relationship that has developed during its previous work with NoSWA". The Tay project is the second major PFI Contract to be awarded by NoSWA to the Catchment consortium. Work is currently nearing completion on the £45 million Highland Sewerage schemes, at Fort William and Inverness. "We are delighted to see this significant project go ahead and our presence in Scotland consolidated ", said Gordon Waters, Managing Director of United Utilities International (UUI). "Caledonian Water looks forward to operating one of the most advanced wastewater treatment facilities anywhere in Europe, providing benefits both for the people of Tay side and the local environment." Background The Catchment joint venture was set up in 1996 by Morrison Construction Group plc, Bechtel Enterprises International, Ltd. and UUI, to tender for infrastructure contracts in the Scottish water sector under the Government's private finance initiative. IWL, UUI and affiliates provide water and wastewater services to 7 million people in the UK, and more than 23 million others worldwide, by operating and maintaining water utility assets in the Philippines, Australia, Bolivia, Mexico, Malaysia, Poland and the UK. Bechtel Enterprises Holdings, Inc. is the project development, finance, ownership, and asset management entity of the Bechtel organisation, a major international engineering and construction company headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It has developed 46 privatised infrastructure projects with a total constructed value exceeding $18 billion. Since 1990, Bechtel Enterprises has participated in arranging more than $15 billion in project financings. In 1998, Bechtel had revenues of $12.6 billion. Edison S.p.A., an affiliate of Group Montedison, is Italy's largest private energy services company and, in addition to its electric business, has a gas business and several water assets in Italy. Abroad, Edison operates in the gas sector, and has had particular success in Egypt, where significant gas reserves have been found in the Nile delta offshore and where a 400-kilometer pipeline is under construction. In 1998, Group Edison had net revenues of over $1.5 billion. United Utilities International is a part of the United Utilities Group of Companies, which provides services in water, wastewater, electricity distribution, electricity and gas supply, telecommunications and business operations outsourcing. It employs more than 7,000 staff in 10 countries. UUI maintains a strategic alliance with IWL, through which it operates IWL's facilities, and invests in selected projects. Contact: International Water (UK) Ltd., Tim Lowe, 44-171-766-5100 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/27/19991227BIT00040/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/27/19991227BIT00040/bit0002.pdf