Veolia will manage the first municipal and
industrial desalination plant of Chile in
Valparaíso
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●​ After a competitive bidding process in which six prominent global companies
participated, Aguas Pacífico awarded the contract to Veolia, world leader in
desalination.​

●​ The contract has an initial duration of four years and includes renewal clauses
through 2040, covering both the operation and maintenance of the desalination
plant and the 105 km pumping system.

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Veolia was awarded the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) contract for the Aguas
Pacífico multipurpose desalination plant in Valparaíso, the first in Chile (1,000 L/s), ahead
of five leading national and international companies that were part of the tender. Veolia,
leader in ecological transformation with more than 170 years of global experience and over
50 years of expertise in the operation and maintenance of desalination plants. As the world
leader in desalination, Veolia has designed and built 18% of the global installed
desalination capacity using its technologies, reaffirming its position as a benchmark in the
sustainable management of water resources worldwide.

“We are very pleased with the transparent and competitive development of this bidding
process, which marks a new milestone for Aguas Pacífico. The award to Veolia, a
company with a strong national and international track record in the operation of
desalination plants, gives us full confidence to guarantee our clients an efficient, safe, and
sustainable service, in line with the highest environmental and social standards. This new
step allows us to advance in our challenge of combating drought and the effects of climate
change in central Chile,” said Javier Moreno Hueyo, General Manager of Aguas
Pacífico.

Elier González, CEO of Veolia Chile and Peru, said: “At Veolia, we are very grateful for
the trust placed in us by being selected to operate such an important project as this
desalination plant, thus becoming a strategic partner in contributing to water security in the
central region in the face of the challenges posed by climate change. We offer Aguas
Pacífico all our experience in the operation and maintenance of this type of plant
worldwide, which allows us to guarantee high standards of operational efficiency and
sustainability. Without a doubt, this contract strengthens our GreenUp strategic plan, which
seeks to accelerate ecological transformation through innovative solutions — in this case,
in water and energy management.”

Stages and scope of the O&M contract

The contract begins with a support phase for the commissioning of the plant and the
aqueduct, or start-up phase. Once the operational condition is reached—producing 1,000
l/s of desalinated water and transporting it to the final customers in the interior of the
Valparaíso Region and the Metropolitan Region—the Operation and Maintenance phase
begins for both the desalination plant and the aqueduct and its storage works (tanks). Both
phases have a duration of up to 4 years, after which contract extension clauses may apply,
potentially extending the contract until 2040.

The operation of the Aguas Pacífico Desalination Plant considers 100% use of renewable
energies, 60% local labor, delivery of water to Rural Sanitary Services (formerly APR) in
Limache and Olmué affected by the drought, and the use of the most advanced
technologies in marine intake and outfall systems to protect the ocean.

For all legal, representation, and stakeholder relations purposes, the owner and legal entity
responsible for the desalination plant and the aqueduct is the company Aguas Pacífico.

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ABOUT AGUAS PACIFÍCO ​
​
Aguas Pacífico is a company under the international investment fund Patria Investments, founded in 2016 with
the goal of carrying out the first desalination project in central Chile to supply potable water to industrial clients
and for human consumption in the Valparaíso and Metropolitan Regions. The project, which is currently under
construction, includes the operation of a seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 1,000 l/s in the
commune of Puchuncaví and a 105-kilometer-long aqueduct that reaches Quilapilún in the commune of Colina
in the Metropolitan Region. The investment of US$1.2 billion secured financing with green credit certification
and a Very Good sustainability rating (Moody’s).



ABOUT VEOLIA​
Veolia group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents
with 215,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of
water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three
complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to
renew them. In 2024, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 98 million with
sanitation, produced 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 65 million tonnes of waste. Veolia
Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 44.7 billion euros in 2024.
www.veolia.com

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CONTACTS
PRESS RELATIONS VEOLIA GROUP​ PRESS RELATIONS AGUAS PACIFICO
Laurent Obadia - Evgeniya Mazalova Susana Mena
Anna Beaubatie - Aurélien Sarrosquy
Tel.+569 8289390
Charline Bouchereau
susana.mena@aguaspacifico.cl

Tél. + 33 (0) 1 85 57 86 25
presse.groupe@veolia.com

PRESS RELATIONS VEOLIA CHILE
Carola Leiva
Tel.+569 95540278
carola.leiva@veolia.com