(16 January 2014, Hong Kong) Sino French Water Development Company Limited (“Sino French Water”), a joint venture between NWS Holdings Limited (“NWS Holdings” or the “Group”; Hong Kong stock code: 659) and Suez Environnement, through its joint venture company today signed a contract with two Mainland partners to jointly operate the sludge drying project in Yangzhou under a new joint venture named Yangzhou Sino French Environment Company Limited (“Yangzhou Sino French”). Under the agreement, Yangzhou Sino French will be the exclusive provider of safe, energy-saving and green sludge drying treatment service for the 4.5 million residents and industrial clients in Yangzhou over the next 30 years. The project attracts a total investment of RMB250 million and will have a total capacity of 500 tonnes/day.
Suzhou Industrial Park Sino French Environmental Technology Company Limited, a joint venture of Sino French Water, Yanzhou Jieyuan Discharge Water Company Limited and the Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, represent shareholding of 42.5%, 50% and 7.5% respectively in Yangzhou Sino French.
Phase I of the project will break ground in mid-2014 and is expected to become operational in 2015 with a daily sludge treatment capacity of 300 tonnes. Building upon the success of the sludge drying project in Suzhou Industrial Park, Yangzhou Sino French will set up a sludge treatment facility inside the Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, next to the power plant. The treatment facility will run decontamination, minimisation and stabilisation treatment on the biological sludge produced by Tangwang, Liuwei and the neighbouring wastewater treatment plants before the dried sludge is transferred to the adjacent power plant and mixed with coal for burning. The benefits include resources recovery, lower coal consumption and greater environmental synergies.
Yangzhou is located in the centre of Jiangsu province. Its GDP grew 12% in 2013. With rapid economic growth, Yangzhou will soon be generating over 200 tonnes of wet sludge per day. The Yangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, being one of the state-level economic and technological development zones, has established key industries such as solar panel, LED lighting and port logistics and attracted Fortune 500 companies.
China’s “12th Five-year Plan” has set forth a clear goal of increasing hazard-free treatment of municipal sludge to 70% or 80% by 2015. Committed to environmental protection, energy saving and emissions reduction, Sino French Water took the lead in bringing the Group’s patented sludge drying process INNODRY® 2E to China in 2009 and setting up Chongqing’s first sludge drying facility at Chongqing Tangjiatuo wastewater treatment plant. In 2011, Sino French Water further built Jiangsu’s first sludge drying facility in Suzhou Industrial Park, a state-level industrial park for the demonstration of eco-friendly technology. Using the patented process, the plant treats 300 tonnes of wet sludge with a moisture content of 80% on a daily basis. The dried sludge is mixed with coal to produce the fuel for power generation, which helps save nearly 12,000 tonnes of coal for the park every year.
NWS Holdings has invested in 28 water treatment and waste treatment projects in Mainland China and Macau through its joint venture company Sino-French Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited. The water projects treat up to a total of 7.04 million cbms of water and waste water as well as 540 tonnes of sludge per day.
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This press release is also available on the Group’s website ( www.nws.com.hk).
NWS Holdings Limited (“NWS Holdings”, Hong Kong stock code: 659), the infrastructure and service flagship of New World Development Company Limited (Hong Kong stock code: 17), operates businesses in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Macau. Its Infrastructure portfolio includes Roads, Energy, Water and Ports & Logistics projects. Its Services portfolio comprises Facilities Management (the management of Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Free Duty), Construction & Transport (construction, bus and ferry services) and Strategic Investments.
Sino French Water is a successful partnership between NWS Holdings Limited of Hong Kong and SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT of France. Sino French Water has been active in the China water industry since 1992. Together with local partners, Sino French Water provides innovative and sustainable water solutions to over 15 million municipal and industrial customers across 20 municipalities in China.
SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT (Paris: SEV, Brussels: SEVB) has 79,550 employees on five continents and is a world leader in water and waste management services. It has been present in China for more than 30 years, through its subsidiaries Sino-French Holdings and Sino French Water, SITA Waste Services and Degrémont.
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NWS Holdings Limited