Austria: The Wietersdorfer Group plans to expand further into the water sector given that its investment in the pipe technology company Hobas generated nearly half of its g 400 million turnover in 2002. The Wietersdorfer Group holds 75% of Hobas, based in Klagenfurt, Austria.
The Hobas Group manufactures and markets centrifugally cast glassfibre reinforced plastics pipe systems worldwide for sewage, potable water, irrigation, drainage and trenchless applications (www.hobas.com).
Bulgaria: OMONIT, the concession monitoring unit acting on behalf of the Municipality of Sofia, appointed the UK company Hyder Consulting to audit the water supply network model and drainage area models prepared by Sofyiska Voda, the concessionaire awarded a 25-year contract to provide water and wastewater services in 2000.
The models were stipulated in the Levels of Service drawn up and incorporated by Hyder in the concession agreement. The commission represents the first stage in agreeing on the Concession Term Invest-ment Plan that will be implemented during the remaining years of the concession.
Kuwait: The National Company for Mechanical & Electrical Works awarded a contract to the US company Sanitaire last January 2003 to design, build and commission the aeration, pumping and mixing system at the Sulaibiya wastewater treatment and reclamation plant in Kuwait.
The initial capacity of the plant will be 375,000 m3/day, but will ultimately expand to 600,000 m3/day. Sanitaire's Project Manager Trevor Day and Lead Engineers Ewan Bennet and Alan Thompson will work with ILF, an Austrian engineering and consulting firm, and the National Company for Mechanical & Electrical Works. They will oversee the installation of more than 50,000 Sanitaire Silver Series Diffusers and almost 2,600 Sanitaire Coarse Bubble Diffusers in addition to the installation of 13 blowers, 45 mixers, 72 flow boosters, 27 recirculation pumps and more than 25 km of air main and flooring pipe work throughout the system. Sanitaire is based in Brown Deer, Wisconsin and is a division of ITT Industries.
United Arab Emirates: On 18 May Tractebel inaugurated its US$ 1.5 billion power and water production plant Al Taweelah, the largest independent project in the region with the capacity to generate 1430 MW of electricity and a daily water production of 385,000 m3.
The Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) awarded the project in 2000 to a consortium held equally by Tractebel and Total, following an international tendering procedure. The consortium owns 40% of the new Al Taweelah A1, with the remaining 60% held by ADWEA. It will produce water and electricity for Abu Dhabi, representing roughly 25% of the total electricity production and 25% of the total water production of the emirate. Taweelah A1 reduced by half its original carbon dioxide emissions per kilowatt and cut its nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%.
