SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT SUPPLEMENT 4 PAGES ON SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT IN AUSTRALIA MagazineNumber 12_March 2013 | P02 DESALINATION MISSION IN MELBOURNE | P12 SAFETY AT THE HEART OF THE GROUP’S | P24 PRIVATE INVESTMENT, A SUSTAINABLE AND INNOVATIVE SOLUTION IN THE USA | GROUP DEVELOPMENT: AN INTERNATIONAL FOCUS 2 _PORTFOLIO SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT MAGAZINE 02_ 03_ 01_ 01_ Construction work began on the desalination plant in September 2009 near Wonthaggi, a town located 135 km southeast of Melbourne. 02_ The project operated with a peak of 4,500 workers on site each day. 03_ On 17 December 2012, the Victorian Desalination Plant successfully completed reliability tests. The operations team now manages the facility for the next 27 years. No.12 - MARCH 2013 PORTFOLIO_ 3 MELBOURNE DRINKABLE SEAWATER! IN AUSTRALIA, WATER IS A PRECIOUS COMMODITY. WITH THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION LIVING ALONG THE COUNTRY’S COASTAL AREAS, SEAWATER DESALINATION HAS EMERGED AS A VIABLE SOLUTION FOR THIS ISLAND-CONTINENT. FOLLOWING PERTH’S EXAMPLE, MELBOURNE HAS GIVEN DEGRÉMONT THE JOB OF MAKING ITS SEAWATER DRINKABLE! LET’S LOOK BACK ON THIS HUMAN AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVENTURE. PHOTO REPORT: THIESS / DEGRÉMONT w Watch the video on the Melbourne desalination plant SUEZ12UK_002007_PORTFOLIO.indd 3 11/04/13 13:32 4 _PORTFOLIO SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT MAGAZINE 01_ `2 billion 30 years is the amount of investment is the length of the contract with the State needed for the construction of Victoria (from construction of the plant, contract. through to operation). No.12 - MARCH 2013 PORTFOLIO_ 5 01_ 35,000 tonnes of equipment were used and 1.4 million cubic metres of earth was excavated. 02_ 84 km of pipes had to be laid to allow transportation of the drinking water from the plant to the Cardinia Reservoir. 02_ 03_ 03_ The tunnels that draw in the seawater measure 4 metres in diameter. 6 _PORTFOLIO SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT MAGAZINE 01_ The plant’s racks are almost 10 metres high and the plant houses more than 55,000 reverse osmosis membranes. 25,000 people from 20 different countries were involved in the construction of this mammoth plant. 450,000 m3 of water can be available every day to over four million people living in Melbourne and the surrounding area if needed. 01_ 03_ 02_ 02_ 87 kilometres of 03_ More than 180 indicators are underground electric checked by 250 analysers on the cables supply the plant production line to ensure the with the power it needs. drinking water meets the Victorian Government’s health standards. No.12 - MARCH 2013 PORTFOLIO_ 7 THE DESALINATION CYCLE — On the Wonthaggi site, the production cycle is made up of 7 key stages. First, water is pumped from the sea (water intake) via a 1.2-km long tunnel before being pre-treated through a sieving and filtering process which removes algae, suspended solids and other particles. Next, it is injected into reverse osmosis racks, where the water is filtered and desalinated through semi-permeable membranes. Then comes the purification phase when the water is remineralised (calcium and carbonates), giving it all of the necessary properties to make it safe for consumption. It is then sent to the Cardinia Reservoir via an 84 km-long feeder pipe before entering the Melbourne water supply, wich is connected to the regional areas. The first two stages of the cycle include the optimal treatment of sludge and the brine produced during the reverse osmosis process being returned to the sea via a special 1.5 km-long tunnel. 27 years of operations, after which the plant will be handed back to the Victorian Government in perfect working order. Following a total construction investment of `2 billion, the plant now has a production capacity of 450,000 m3 of water per 2009, Degrémont, a subsidiary of SUEZ day. This provides the 4.1 million people of Greater Melbourne ENVIRONNEMENT, as part of the with a rainfall independent source of drinking water to supple- In July AquaSure consortium (1), was awarded the ment catchments and storages if required. world’s largest public-private partnership contract for water Does the plant have any stand-out characteristics? Its services. Its aim: to fi nance, design, construct and operate the structure has been designed to be visually integrated into the largest reverse osmosis seawater desalination plant in the countryside (2), particularly through the main building having a Southern Hemisphere. 26,000 m3 green-roof, and the entire facility being surrounded This challenging project and feat of human endeavour is by reconstructed coastal sand dunes, planted with millions of based near Wonthaggi, a small coastal town 135 km southeast native species. And all of the energy required to operate the of Melbourne. plant is 100% offset by renewable energy! In total, 35,000 tonnes of equipment and 25,000 people from 20 different countries were required to produce those (1) The AquaSure consortium is comprised of SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT/Degrémont, Thiess (an Australian construction and services company) and the Macquarie Group fi rst few drops of desalination water in June 2012. By mid- (an international banking, fi nancial and fund management services provider). See the inset “SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT in Australia”. December 2012, the reliability testing of the plant operating (2) The site is spread over a total of 263 ha, 38 ha of which is covered by the plant, while at full capacity was completed. That marked the beginning of the coastal park covers the remaining 225 ha. 08 _CONTENTS MagazineSUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is published by SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT. Tour CB 21 16, place de l’Iris 92040 Paris la Défense, France. PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Jean-Louis Chaussade. EDITORIAL DIRECTORS: Frédérique Raoult, Nathalie Parinaud-Gouédard. 02 PORTFOLIO 18 IN BRIEF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Melbourne: water, water everywhere! A look back on the latest news from Méloé Debiais. A closer look at the largest SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT. ISSN NUMBER: 2108-3762. seawater desalination plant 18 In France in the Southern Hemisphere. 20 Around the world COVER: © CHAT ROBERTS/CORBIS DESIGN: 10 INNOVATIONS 22 SOLIDARITY INITIATIVES 55, rue d’Amsterdam, 75008 Paris. Innovative, ecological treatment Transferring know-how Tel: 01 53 32 56 29. A look back at the implementation Focus on the ParisTech EDITORIAL TEAM: Nelly Buffon, Cécile Collette, by Degrémont Industry of a BTEX “SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT/ Florence Donnarel, Emmanuelle Gautier, stripping process. WATER FOR ALL” Chair. Cécile Perrin, Olivier Sauvy, Ingrid Seguel. DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: 11 TALENTS 24 EYEWITNESS Hélène Odoux. Emmanuelle Brisemur, Private investors: Moving towards Degrémont in Qatar sustainable solutions? THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ISSUE: A meeting on Qatari soil with Interview with Raj Agrawal, Director of Anne Couderc, Constance Covillard, a woman of character. North American Infrastructure at KKR. Hugues d’Antin, Gaëlle Darras, Jasmin Ellik, Johana Fergani, Natacha Grondin, Rich Henning, 12 CHALLENGES 27 INNOVATIONS Florence Humeau, Éléonore de Larboust, Simon Lee, Sevashree Mohaptra, Abderrazak Safety at Vivacity, for sustainable projects Moussadek, Hélène Parent, Anne-Laure Paté, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT A tool for urban planning implemented Madeline Power, Sabine Rous. Status update and perspectives with by SAFEGE. Jean-Marc Laouchez and Ivan Boissières. TRANSLATION: RR Donnelley. 28 SPECIAL REPORT PRODUCTION MANAGER: 16 TALENTS When international activity takes Bruno Garnault. Laure Girodet, SAFEGE on another dimension PRINT RUN: 20,000 copies The path taken by an executive Consolidation, conquering new who has grown up with the Group. markets, developing its range... PRINTER: SIRA SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT faces 46, rue Constantin-Pecqueur new challenges as it continues its 95150 Taverny Tel: 01 34 18 62 00 17 INNOVATIONS international expansion. This document is printed Robotised sorting, on PEFC paper. 10-31-1342. a model for the future? 38 TALENTS SITA Suomi innovates Shyam Bhan, in the high-tech recycling sector. SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT India The director of the new entity takes a look back over his career and how water and waste is managed in his country. Printed by an Impim’Vert-certified printer on paper from sustainably managed forests. 39 INNOVATIONS Solar Active System, a collaborative innovation You can write to us at: [email protected] Focus on the “2-in-1” solar panel. 40 TALENTS Carlos Campos, CIRSEE Profi le of the new director of the Group’s main research and technological centre of expertise. 41 MILESTONES Must-sees on the web, trends and some dates for your diary. 42 PERSPECTIVES François Ghislain Morillion © LOTTA NIEMINEN © LOTTA and Sébastien Kopp, creators of the Veja brand 28“With nearly 80,000 employees in seventy countries across The story of Veja, the fair-trade sports five continents, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is a global player shoe company. YOU CAN FIND US ON: in the water and waste sectors.” WEB w www.suez-environnement.fr EMAG w www.emag. suez-environnement.com/ TV w www.suez-environnement.tv YOUTUBE w www.youtube.com/ w As you read the magazine, scan the QR codes with user/suezenvironnement your QR code reader to see videos or websites related TWITTER w twitter.com/suezenv to the subject (mobile Internet connection charges apply). No.12 - MARCH 2013 EDITORIAL_ 09 Dear readers, © STÉPHANE DE BOURGIES / ABACAPRESS Let me fi rst of all talk about our annual results, which we announced JEAN-LOUIS CHAUSSADE / in February. CEO OF SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT In 2012, we saw solid operating performance, in a diffi cult economic environment in Europe. These results confi rm the relevance of our “OUR EXCELLENT model, which is based on strong expertise in our businesses as well as on our ability to adapt to their new challenges, whether technological, RESULTS CONFIRM commercial or societal. THE RELEVANCE Throughout the year, we spearheaded a dual approach to continuously improve our performance and build our future growth. In this way, OF OUR MODEL, we are continuing our transition towards more new value-added WHICH IS BASED ON SOLID services in the water sector, more recovery in the waste sector, more EXPERTISE FROM OUR industrial water and more growth across the world.