Press Release

Water networks emergency: more public-private investments are needed

Acea is joining the 10th World Water Forum, the most important international meeting for the water sector, held in these days in Bali, Indonesia. Protection and enhancement of water resources and renewable energy; improvement of the infrastructures also thanks to the use of new technologies; new funding and public-private investment models; future challenges in the water cycle management: these are the issues discussed during the roundtables and meetings which the Group’s managers joined during these very days.

By 2028, Acea will invest 7.6 billion euros: the Group's focus will be on regulated sectors such as the water, electricity and environment business, with the aim of consolidating its infrastructural leadership.  This plan provides growth opportunities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. This strategy is also confirmed by the presence of Acea, the only operator in the water sector, in the control room on the Mattei Plan launched by the Italian Government.

“To meet the current and future challenges of the water sector, it is essential to be able to attract private capital, together with public funds. In this context, the public-private partnership represents a very effective tool. For example, I want to share a success story of Acea in Peru: at the beginning of 2000, with a consortium of companies (Agua Azul Consortium), the Group built a purifier for the water of the Chillon River. The project, carried out through a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) model, sees Acea still today, through the Agua Azul Consortium of which it is the majority shareholder, successfully manage the plant that supplies drinking water to half the city of Lima", stated Fabrizio Ferri, Executive President of Acea International, during his speech today at the roundtable “Water System transformation and innovation: private sector”.  This is the Acea Group company that manages the water business in South America through its participation in seven operating companies with approximately 2,400 employees and serving approximately 10 million customers, as well as developing business in other countries around the world. The roundtable was organised by the World Economic Forum and the 2030 Water Resource Group, in collaboration with the Global Commission on the Economics of Water.

“We are increasingly witnessing water stress situations at a global level. The worldwide demand for water will be increasingly higher, also considering the greater demand from technological industries. All this leads to an obvious conversation on the current infrastructural delay. More strategic investments are needed to deal with aging networks. Efficient and sustainable management of water can only go through the reuse of water resources and the implementation of digital and artificial intelligence technologies, and Acea has already moved forward in this field", Mauro Alfonso, Head of Strategy and M&A – Environment at Acea, commented during the working days.