Mexico to tender two water and waste PPPs in 2022

Authorities are seeking to tender and award this year a wastewater treatment and an urban waste management project in Baja California state and Mexico state, respectively. 

Total investment for the PPPs is 1.6bn pesos (US$82mn), according to project tracker website Mexico Projects hub, managed by development bank Banobras. 

Tijuana wastewater treatment plant

Demanding 539mn pesos, Baja California’s public service commission is seeking to tender in June the rehabilitation of the San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant, which is currently not serving the urban area due to lack of investment and maintenance. 

“The project entails the construction of three modules of 400l/s with flexibility to be implemented in stages with a type of treatment using oxidation ditches,” according to Mexico Projects hub. 

Of the total investment, 49% will come from the national infrastructure fund (Fonadin), while the rest will be provided by the tender winner.

Contract awarding is planned for September, work should start by December and operations by December 2024, according to the site. 

The winner of the international contest will receive a 20-year concession. 

Naucalpan sanitary landfill

Although the original plan was to launch the tender during 1H22, Mexico state’s Naucalpan municipality has rescheduled the launch to September. The tender is for a PPP for designing, constructing, installing, operating and maintaining a new complementary sanitary landfill. 

The winner of the 22-year concession is expected to be selected in December, works should start by April 2023 and operations by April 2024.

The 70%-privately financed PPP also involves the implementation of an energy recovery system for the treatment of the organic fraction of urban solid waste to obtain recyclable materials and fuels for commercialization. 

Besides, the winner must build a waste-to-energy plant with a segregation system to obtain biowaste and capture methane.

“The project will have the capacity to treat the 1,348t per day that are generated in the municipality, benefiting nearly 1mn residents,” Fonadin said on the project’s website.