Oman Water and Wastewater Services Company (NAMA Water Services) has awarded a €2 billion ($2.28 billion) contract to French utility company Suez to operate and maintain water and wastewater services in the country.

Suez and its Omani partners, National Trading Company and National Energy Centre (NEC), will provide water and wastewater services to Muscat, the North Sharqiyah and South Sharqiyah Governorates (Cluster 1), the French company said in a statement.

The deal was announced during Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik's visit to France.

The scope of the contract includes:

Water services with the operation and maintenance of 240 wells and 10,700 km of pipelines to distribute 470,000 cubic metres per day (m3/day) of drinking water. It also covers the refurbishment and upgrading of 4 desalination plants and the operation of more than 400,000 smart meters. 

Wastewater services with the operation and maintenance of 22 wastewater treatment plants, representing a total treatment capacity of 280,000 m3/day, around 3,000 km of sewer networks, and 400 km of treated effluent networks delivering treated water for reuse, and installation and operation of new wastewater house connections. 

The performance-based contract has a 15-year duration and will serve 2.3 million people. 

The project's objective is to reduce water losses from 34 percent to 11 percent by 2040 and guarantee a high-quality, 24-hour water supply, the statement said.

The performance-based contract also involves strong commitment to omanisation (>83 percent) and In Country Value, supporting the Government's strategic goals of Oman Vision 2040.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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