Performance contract, Riyadh City Business Unit

The Saudi Arabia Kingdom decided to privatize its national utility services, following the aim of increasing operational efficiency into the areas of water and wastewater management, while simultaneously contributing tothe broader goals of its development strategy.



In May 2008, Veolia has been awarded a 5-year performance contract by the Ministry of Water and Electricity for the treatment and distribution of water as well as wastewater collection for the city of Riyadh, the Kingdom’s capital, providing its services to the National Water Company (NWC). Veolia was also in charge of operating the wastewater treatment plants serving Riyadh.



In the context of a fist-of-its-kind delegated service management contract ever signed in Saudi Arabia, Veolia’s mission was to enhance the overall performance of water and wastewater treatment services in the city of Riyadh and adapt them to the demographic growth targets (a 20% increase of population since 2008: from 4.7 million to 5.7 million inhabitants) in an environment of acute water stress.
 

The performance-based contract has enabled NWC to benefit from the experience of Veolia to improve the performance of their services and recommend new technical, technological and logistical solutions, while keeping environmental risks under control and reducing operating costs.

 

This model allowed NWC to measure the results generated by this performance contract. Meaningful key performance indicators (KPI) were tied to the delivery of improved results and the potential savings to the utilities. The results are measurable, enabling full transparency to NWC and the public

 

Benefits

• More than 265,000 training hours to more than 16,000 people (cumulated) since 2008
• Increase of 1 million inhabitants in the population served by the potable water network
• Increase of 1.5 million inhabitants of the population connected to the wastewater network
• Continuity of supply has ramped up from 25% to more than 50% in 2012