Acciona Agua has won the recognition of Global Water Intelligence for its projects and cutting-edge practices in the water management sector.
The Atotonilco wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), located in Mexico City, has been recognized for the category “Deal of the Year”, while the Beckton desalination plant in London has been awarded “Plant of the Year” at the 2011 GWI awards.
Global Water Intelligence is the most prestigious international publication in the water market, and the prizes it awards are selected by more than 14,000 professionals and experts in the sector.
The Beckton plant in London has received the prize for “Desalination Plant of the Year”, thanks to its technical and environmental advances. The facility, which has capacity to supply close to a million people, is pioneering in the application of technologies–developed by Acciona Agua–which minimize energy consumption and the impact on wildlife. The plant runs on renewable energies using biofuels generated at the facility itself, a sustainable and unique solution in the water sector given its large-scale application.
Further, the project has redefined the limits for reuse of the energy consumed in the desalination process, given that systems have been incorporated which allow 85% recovery. The desalination process envisages collecting water at low-tide, when the salt content of the Thames estuary is at its lows, and as such also reducing the energy needed to process it.
Acciona’s contract in Mexico has been chosen because of its capacity to unite private companies (among them, Acciona) and the Government, in order to close the financing worth $900 million. This agreement has enabled building the largest wastewater treatment plant in the world, and in record time: seven months after the deal was officially signed.