Winning combination

Contractor
July, 2007 Page: 28

John Holland and Veolia Water have again immersed themselves in the world of desalination, winning the bid to develop Sydney's $960 million desalination plant and seawater inlets at Kurnell. The companies, along with Sinclair Knight Merz and Maunsell make up the Blue Water Consortium which has been named the preferred tenderer to design, build, operate and maintain the 250 megalitre per day plant for 20 years. A fully owned subsidiary of Sydney Water will own the plant.

The plant is the largest and most significant capital works project undertaken by Sydney Water since Warragamba Dam and is expected to create around 800 jobs. With plans for no net greenhouse impact, the wheels are now in motion to enter a 20-year contract for the provision of wind energy to supply 100% of the electricity to run the plant. Already involved in the GCD Alliance building the Gold Coast desalination project, John Holland and Veolia Water believe specialist knowledge in both tunnelling and water will be incredibly valuable in delivering the project. Work is set to begin on the project later this month and will take 26 months to complete.