ACCIONA wins $2.8bn desal project

Spanish engineering giant ACCIONA has won the contract to design and build WA’s next desalination plant at Alkimos after beating a rival bid from CPB Contractors, according to industry sources.

The state government committed $2.8 billion to build the desalination plant early this month and said at the time that a contract to design, construct and operate the plant would be awarded early in 2024.

The Water Corporation has advised that final contract negotiations are still underway however multiple sources have told Business News that ACCIONA has been advised in writing that is the preferred proponent.

The consortium has now entered the final phase, developing a target out-turn cost before the awarding of the contract.

ACCIONA revealed in August it had assembled a consortium comprising its construction arm, its water treatment subsidiary Agua and US engineering company Jacobs to bid for the Alkimos project.

The rival bidder was the Gnargagin Alliance, led by CIMIC Group subsidiary CPB Contractors.

The desalination project adds to a string of major WA infrastructure projects won by ACCIONA.

These include the Bunbury Outer Ring Road, the Victoria Park-Canning Level Crossing Removal Project, and the Bayswater train station upgrade.

It is also building two giant waste-to-energy projects for private consortia, at Kwinana and East Rockingham.

The run of wins by ACCIONA and UK-based Laing O’Rourke have arguably seen them usurp CPB as the leading engineering and civil construction contractor in the WA infrastructure market.

ACCIONA’s bid manager Jamie Falzon said in August that its consortium presented the Water Corporation “with an outstanding pedigree of desalination design and construction expertise”.

The Alkimos plant will be Perth’s third, adding to desalination plants at Kwinana and Binningup.

The Stage One 50 gigalitre per annum plant will sit adjacent to the existing Alkimos waste water treatment plant and include a 2.5km intake tunnel and a 4km outfall, with significant marine works to install the outfall diffusers and intake manifolds.

Mr Falzon said that with in-ground works for the tunnel launching shafts plus significant mechanical and electrical components, “the project sees opportunities for all of the ACCIONA ‘family’ in Australia to bring together our expertise in delivering complex engineering solutions that help us design a better planet”.