The Veolia Group announced on Thursday that it had signed a consortium agreement with the refining branch of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to treat hazardous waste from the emirate’s largest industrial complex.
No official figures have been released, but according to an expert estimate, the contract represents a billion euros in revenue over 30 years for the company, which will operate two waste centers in the Al Ruways complex, with a combined annual capacity of around 70,000 tons.
The French group, in consortium (50.1%) with the Saudi holding company Vision Invest and the Abu Dhabi-based investment company ADQ (24.95% respectively), has signed a contract to acquire these two waste treatment plants from ADNOC Refining.
From 2023 onwards, it will manage the waste of the largest refinery in the Middle East, and the fourth largest in the world, which processes more than 900,000 barrels of crude and condensate every day.
“Accompanying ADNOC in its ecological transformation”, the world’s number one environmental services company must, in particular, maximize the recovery of resources (water and oil) from oil and gas industry waste, for reuse at nearby industrial sites. A renewable energy program (heat recovery and photovoltaics) is also planned.
Treating this waste is “a key factor in protecting water resources and air quality,” says Veolia’s CEO, Estelle Brachlianoff.
In addition to refinery waste, the site is also expected to process drilling muds from oil wells, and Veolia hopes to gradually open up its activity to the nearby port, for example.
For the group, this is a “historic” agreement, which will more than double its hazardous waste business in the Middle East.
Veolia has ambitions in this area “in all its segments”, whether it be seawater desalination, hazardous waste treatment or energy efficiency in buildings, explains Ms. Brachlianoff to AFP.
“Because this region is setting goals for ecological transition, it needs our services, and in fact many clients come to us,” she explains.
The high value-added hazardous waste treatment business is also a focus of Veolia’s development worldwide.
The group should thus meet its objective of doubling its revenues in this segment in four years, to 4 billion euros by the end of 2023.
